Work on your jumps, tumbles, yells, and stunting. You got this

Confidence is key! Even if you feel scared, smile and lift your chin, you got it!! Make sure you know your material backwards and forwards, but remember that mistakes happen—if you mess up just keep going like you didn't miss a beat. I literally messed up the dance during my UCA staff tryouts despite practicing it perfectly like 5 minutes before because I was nervous. It's natural and the judges know that! Focus on technique in everything you do: sharp motions, pointed toes, etc. As a coach, I'd rather see an athlete who focuses on technique and shows they are trying their hardest than an uncoachable, sloppy athlete even if they have a full. Bring positivity and excitement to every step of the process and I think you'll have nothing to worry about :)

Really, REALLY focus on your technique in every skill. The height of your jumps andd the difficulty of your tumbling will not matter (to any good coach) if your technique is solid. For your jumps, make sure your arms are right where they need to be, make your jumps snappy (really drive your legs up to your body, not your body to your legs), point your toes. For your tumbling, take a look as some instructional videos from cheerleaders, tumble coaches, and cheer gyms to see what are the biggest things you need to work on (you can find TONS on Youtube). Motions are also a huge thing in cheer. Take a look at some videos and photos of the different motions, stand in front of a mirror or a camera and DRILL them. Try to get to a point where you hear the name of a motion and you can automatically do it. Once you're at this point, you can really focus on having sharp motions. Being sharp has two major parts: Speed and strength. Get to your motion FAST. Once you "hit" your motion, squeeze your entire upper body to lock the motion in place, shoulders, arms, back, and core. If you find time, take a look at some videos of cheers from UCA staff. They are a perfect example of good motions. You don't need to be them, as you most likely won't, but if you want a visual example that is what you want to look for. The biggest thing you can do is be positive and coachable. I am currently a college cheerleader. I've been through 5 tryouts across high school and college. I whole-heartedly believe that each time my personality and my willingness to learn is one of the biggest things that get me only my teams. Sure, skill definitely plays a part. But, showing your coaches that you are excited to learn that will give you a HUGE leg up. Really keep this in mind: not only are you new to the team, you are new to the sport. You are going to make mistakes. Do NOT let these facts get into your head. Stay positive, keep learning, and do your very best. I wish you the best of luck with your tryouts!

Understand your school's tryout scoresheet. Ask the current coach for an example if you aren't sure. That will be the clearest in telling you where you need to focus in order to get the max amount of points with your current abilities. Make sure there are no specific tumbling requirements.

Most schools will have you perform a cheer & jumps in addition to possibly tumbling, but the points you gain from having sharp motions, a loud cheer, a big smile when performing, correct technique for motions and jumps, etc. are where you can usually generate the most points (realistically a cartwheel is probably not going to count for many points on the scoresheet even if tumbling is on there).

As a former dancer, you will likely need to work on sharpness for motions (ballet tends to focus more on grace and flow of movement rather than a tight "hit" of arm movement. Be also careful of not bending the wrist in cheer motions. The line from fist to elbow should be straight not bent) and work on the "snap" down for jumps (while you likely have a good foundation of core + lower body strength to push off the ground and extend through your toes, ballet may have you doing more of a graceful "float" down instead of a "snap" back down in cheer jumps).

MOTIONS!! Focus on motions making sure they are sharp. Tumbling is important as well, but just check guidelines on what’s required. As long as you’re smiling, enthusiastic, and confident, you should be okay. This is coming from a former captain🩷🎀

I'd say being sharp and being loud. If you're a ballerina, you aren't used to being sharp. I'd watch some videos and work on that.

Does your team hold clinics prior to tryouts? Our school does a few days of clinics prior, where they’ll teach you a new cheer/chant that you’ll be required to do for the actual tryout as well as go over what they’re looking for specifically during tryouts (tumbling expectations etc) Good Luck!

Not that great at giving advice but I think you should work on your tumbling and stunting skills. Depending on what team you’re on you might do jumps differently as well. Another key factor is to focus on your facials, and have fun (or at least make it look like you’re having fun). Don’t listen to the any negativity because that could end with a mental block, which you may have already had one or two but just in case. Overall, there are some good videos online that have exercises dedicated towards cheer, so those may help. And most importantly, STAY CONFIDENT!! Good luck!!

as a male cheerleader it was crazy easy for me to get on but just add energy and really focus on tight motions.

I don’t do the dancing so i can’t say anything about that.

Try every position in stunting you can, flyer sounds good but you may like another position better.

So I went from 18+ years of Cheer (Did well enough to go to Worlds) and just recently started ballet (I'm 31 if this helps). Completely different skill sets BUT there are things that translate. Cheer is very sharp and more I guess you could say grounded than ballet (I am still struggling with the idea of being more floaty). But things like picking up in counts/patterns, and definitely turns (especially for flying and more advanced tumbling like doubles having spinning techniques help) cross over. As a base some of my best flyers were those with a dancing background.

I suggest maybe find some videos on jumps and motions on YouTube. They are stuff you can work on at home. Gabi Butler is a good source (she was on Netflix's Cheer). She has YouTube channels.

Smile.

smile when they speak to you, be kind, be coachable, and be ready to be put in any position. at 5'3 you may not be put as a flyer depending on the average height of your team. I'm 5'1, 103, and flexible but I was once put as a base on my old team bc there were shorter girls or girls with way more flying experience. I found that unless the team is university level, you will have some very tiny young girls on the team, I was not a flyer until I made my university's team. So do some flying drills but also do some basing drills so you are well rounded in both. Also work on your arm motions in jumps, I know a lot of dancers don't struggle with the jumping part of jumps, they struggle with arm placement. For my university tryout during covid, we learned a dance, were assed on jumps, those who could tumble showed the skills the coach asked of them (if they could do it) & they had the non tumblers doing tumbling drills. For stunting, flyers were given a stunt stand and told to do basic body positions, bases were given shoes and a weight, I'm not sure what backstops did bc flyers were placed in the front so I couldn't see that far back. But yea anyways, they'll break everything into sections of jumps/dance/tumbling/stunting. if you tryout as a flyer, you NEED to preform. you cannot just smile and think that'll be okay. You need to act like you are having the best time of your life up there in the air and have never had so much fun. Obviously you always need to be preforming, but people will notice a flyer who isn't preforming much quicker then they will if someone in a jump sequence of 20 other people isn't (unless you're centre)

Know your moves, fight song, and wear the best dance clothes for the tryout. Plow through the adversities

I coach junior high! I don't always look for the people who know everything perfectly (though obviously that helps). Like you said, performance quality matters, as does being able to recover/move on from a mistake, being loud and confident, and attention to detail.

Being sharp and having good motion technique is important, but if I see someone who maybe isn't the strongest in those things, BUT has everything else, I'd consider that person coachable. Motions can be worked on, but confidence is a lot harder to teach.

As for clinic, the only way to remember everything is to do the reps at home. Maybe have your child work material in between activities, like homework, dinner, shower, etc. Mirrors or cameras are helpful so they can actually see what their motions look like - they should be able to tell if they're being sloppy. Best of luck!

So, my daughter is in seventh grade and made the cheer team this year with no cheering experience whatsoever. She watched YouTube video from a seasoned cheerleader who offered great tips. This seemed to really help her. There are some simple things you can do like smiling big the whole time and being high energy etc that can help you stand out. Sharp motions. Practice at home as much as you can before tryouts and record yourself doing the cheers so you can see what you might need to work on. Be confident (fake it til you make it lol). Good luck!

If there's any opportunity at try outs, be sure to be 'coachable'. Obviously there's a lot going on, but many coaches will tell you what they're focussing on, or give a minor correction during a try out. It can be really easy to get flustered and struggle to apply that in the middle of everything, but if she can show that she's listening and trying to apply what they're saying, that'll come across great

There are NCA/UCA cheers and dances on YouTube she can watch and learn. Then video herself and compare the motions. That or use a mirror but that’s the general idea.

The YouTube videos can help with motion technique and retaining information in the form of motion sequences. Being outgoing, loud and confident can be practiced at home but depending on her can feel very different in front of a crowd. Unsure if jumps are a part of your teams tryouts but they generally are, there are plenty of videos on those to help get a basic understanding.

If her team is a bit more experienced and she doesn’t make it it’s important that she understands that cheer is something that takes time and with effort she will get to the point where she can make it. A couple weeks isn’t much but a year of dedicated work for next season can take her far. Although you did say she had a year of sideline cheer before so maybe I’m assuming she’s more inexperienced than she actually is. Either way not making a team can either be a catalyst for growth or a dead end it all depends on her mindset going into it.

When I tried out for cheer I cheered really fast so i suggest cheering a lot slower than you think you need to… because it can sound slow in your head but it’s coming out of your mouth faster irl… even record yourself and play it back s you know what a good speed sounds like. Good luck!

I would suggest looking through their instagram or social media and matching the “look” of them. Like if in all their pictures they are wearing a high pony and red lip then wear that to tryouts. If it seems like it’s too much it’s probably just about right, most coaches would rather see someone who’s ready and too excited than someone who’s not going to put in the effort. Good luck tho!!

It’s totally normal to be nervous! Something that you can work on at home is motions and jumps. Find videos of basics and practice doing them. Take videos of yourself so you can see how they look and compare to the videos you’re watching.

You can also stretch and exercise so that you are fit and ready when the day comes to try out. Lots of good body weight exercises and stretching videos on YouTube.

Good luck, hopefully in a short while we can see a post about you making your team

Best piece of advice I can give you is to LISTEN. Most guys who try cheer think that stunting is all about muscling stunts up - it’s not. There’s a timing element to stunting that makes stunts really, truly “go.” If you have time, watch some college level toss-to-hands and other co-Ed stunts. Notice how the best guys have patience - and then at the right moment, they channel explosive strength. And never, ever, ever, under any circumstances let your top girl hit the ground. That’s both yours and your top girls primary responsibility, by the way.

Oh. And don’t apologize too much. We are all professionals here to do a job. So show up. And do the job. It’s not any different than any of the other sports you are in.

Oh! And HAVE FUN!!! If you like it, college cheer puts you front and center at ALL of the sporting events. There’s no better place to be!

I would say stretch and do backbends. Push ups and sit ups. You will be valuable as a backspot or base but extremely valuable as a tumbler. I have coached for years and male athletes tend to pick up tumbling skills really fast. Strengthen your core, it will be your most valuable asset. Be confident. Good luck.

Just be willing to learn!!

It is a very physically demanding sport so be willing and ready to give it your all!!

If you have a question…. ASK!!!

Do NOT stand it the back behind everybody and act shy….do things to stand out!!!

The quickest way to lose your teammates trust is by letting them hit the ground. Going out of your way to make sure they don't hit the ground can also help them trust you more. As long as you aren't being ridiculous about it. Catch with an open hand and try not to grab.

Dudes in cheer! Make sure when you do tosses, (if you’re doing solo stunts) to use your dang legs and flick.

Have fun, make friends, and be loud

Your leg height and flexibility are good. I would try to stay in one place before the actual jump - right now you’re kind of hopping around. I would also bring your arms slightly in front of you on the toe touch and really snap your motions. Good luck!

Bring your arms up after jump & smile

I agree with the comments regarding landing and approach; you’re moving around too much before and after. Try to keep your arms to your sides and stiffen up your motions. The jumps themselves are fantastic!😊

Wow👍

Your actual jumps are beautiful! If I’m being picky, the only thing I would work on is your approach/landing. If you know the counts/approach motions they’ll use for tryouts, do those, but make sure you’re doing a clean clasp and high v etc before your jump without swinging your arms (the first toe touch is a good example of a great sharp high v without swinging!). Try to keep your feet in the same place from when you prep to when you actually jump, as right now you’re hopping backwards a little bit. As far as your landing, make sure you’re snapping your ankles together at the bottom and holding there for a moment before you release. Focus on not stepping out of it right away and keeping totally still in your landing position for just a moment. Hope that makes sense? For real it’s just little technique details, but will make a huge difference. Good luck at tryouts! If this is what your jumps look like, I’m sure you’ll do great! Make sure you smile big and look like you’re having a ton of fun!

Think about getting your hips over your hands. Keep your arms straight and push through your shoulders. Arms should be right by your ears! And smile!!!

Your butt muscles do more for you than you might think try using them more.

Be confident. Good luck.