How to start in competitive cheering

By Catalogs Editorial Staff

Ways to get started as a competitive cheerleader

Competitive cheering is a fun sport that boys and girls have participated in for years. Having begun in the United States, this spectator sport continues to grow exponentially in popularity each year, with more and more young competitors wanting to know how to start in competitive cheering.

With well over 1.5 million competitors in the National Cheerleaders Association (NCA), an American competitive cheerleading adjudicating body, the majority of participants are girls. Although competitive cheerleading events occur all over the world, this is still largely an American sport.

Many want to know how to get started in this high-spirited competitive sport. There are several ways to get involved in competitive cheering.

Important Athletic Requirements for Getting Started in Competitive Cheering:

To start in competitive cheering, it is very important to stretch and work out every day. The highly active and aggressive nature of cheering requires participants to be physically strong.

One of the athletic requirements involves the ability to tumble. Many cheerleaders are expected to already know how to turn flips, both forward and backwards, prior to getting started or being accepted to a squad.

Some of the other physical expectations include being able to do splits, pyramids, stunts, lifts, jumps, gymnastics, and complex choreography, having good rhythm and motor skills are essential to getting started in competitive cheering.

Sign up for Cheerleading Camp to Learn the Basics of Competitive Cheering:

If you are not yet up-to-speed, but have an interest in participating in competitive cheering, there is still a great deal of hope. One of the best things to do is to sign up for a cheerleading camp to hone your skills.

At cheerleading camp, counselors, choreographers, and teachers will help you improve the skills needed to start in competitive cheering. This involves intense training, discipline, and strength-building. Activities include aerobics, jogging, stretching, and other stamina-builders.

Try Out for Competitive Cheering at School:

Most public and private middle- and high-schools have organized competitive cheering squads already established. In addition to cheering for other school-sponsored sporting events, many middle school, high school, college, and university cheerleading teams also compete locally and nationally against other cheerleading teams.

Schools usually hold try-outs at least once each year, during which potential new members can attempt to join the team.

These try-out periods are usually quite intense and involve cheerleading clinics, in which cheerleaders who are already on the squad teach cheers, stunts, jumps, and choreography to new recruits?working with them every day.

The new recruits are given a specific time period in which to learn and master what they have learned. Those who do well, meeting the standards set forth by the squad, make the team, while unfortunately, those who fall short, do not.

Trying out for your school?s squad is a great way to get started in competitive cheering.

Community Resources Are a Good Way to Start in Competitive Cheering:

A great deal of community resources provide options for getting started in competitive cheering and become a cheerleader. To find out about some of these opportunities, contact your local parks and recreation department, city hall, church, synagogue, and community center.

You can also visit the National Cheerleaders Association website and enter your zip code.

References:
Varsity
National Cheerleaders Association
Find Cheerleading Resources in Your State – enter your zip code
Learn All You Can About Cheerleading: Is Cheerleading A Sport?
Cheerleading.org