Cheering Games

Cheering football games can be some of the most exciting times in your cheerleading career. It is important to get the crowd involved so your team knows you are behind them! Here are some tips from the college level on how to make your cheers crowd effective:

There should be no “set” position on the field. Come out yelling a traditional chant when lining up, and spread out to ensure complete crowd coverage.

• Hopefully there is one thing that your crowd yells with you — something really simple like your school letters — and that’s your traditional chant. Start yelling this familiar chant and the crowd should catch on; now that the crowd is on board with you, your job is to keep them there.

• Do back handsprings, standing tucks, baskets, etc. to really get their attention.

• Keep on yelling your traditional chant with them while you build stunts to elevate yourselves for your cheer. Once everyone is up in the air, your captain calls the cheer without missing a beat and the rest of the team joins in. Hopefully, your crowd has figured out that something is going on that may involve them!

•Using signs, poms, and megaphones you can lead the crowd in yelling with you as long as you don’t distract them. Multiple transitions and shaky stunts are the number one culprit of this, so keep that stuff to a minimum. The anatomy of a cheer should be based on getting the crowd’s attention and then keeping their attention on the words of the cheer…Your number one priority is to get them to yell with you!

• Make sure your signs are easy to read- the letters should be big and bold. Make sure the crowd can see what the signs say signs before you ask them to yell, that way they are prepared! Also, make sure your signs are in a position that is easy to read, and don’t shake them so much to the point they are distracting. A nice strong sign up in the air while staying still can go a long way!