Category: Tryouts
Type: Tip
TRYOUT
Cheerleading Tryout Tips
Preparation:
Practice, practice, practice! Once you are taught the tryout materials, review them over and over again. The more comfortable you are with the routines, the more relaxed you will be in the tryout itself. A great idea is practice the routine in front of friends and family to get used to doing it in front of people. This will help tremendously in making a cheerleading squad.
Appearance:
Dress conservatively. The judges are looking for neatness. Wear something very comfortable and appropriate for cheering. Keep your hair combed and neat, and wear as little makeup as necessary. If your school allows it, wear your school colors!
Routine:
The judges are looking for sharp, well-placed motions, loud voices, enthusiasm, and routine knowledge. The sharper the motions, the better score you will receive. Make sure your motions are properly placed, not too far in front or in back of you, and not too loose. The judges want to hear loud, sharp voices, but do not scream!
Showmanship:
This part of the tryout is most important! It is even more important than the actual routines you perform. The judges want to see confidence, smiles, and crowd appeal. Come into the tryout with the assurance that you deserve to be on the squad. You should give each judge eye contact
throughout the entire tryout. Smile! From the beginning to the end, you should smile and look as though you are having a great time. Finally, the judges are looking for someone who will appeal to the crowd. A lot of enthusiasm and "peppiness" is great!
Specialties:
Most tryouts allow you to perform any specialties you can do, for instance, jumps, kicks, gymnastics. Any specialty you can perform well is an advantage, but remember, you do not want to show off something that is not great. So, if you are not super in a specialty, it is better to stick to the routine.
Extra Tips:
If you make a mistake in the tryouts do not get upset. On every judging sheet there is a section called recovery. In the situation that a person makes a mistake, they see how well he/she keeps going. Many
people every year make mistakes in tryouts and still make the squad. The reason for this is that they recovered well, that is they kept going with smiles and enthusiasm as though nothing happened.
Submitted by: Julie Anne Sommers
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