Make Your Cheer Year Anything But Routine

Check out the Cheerleader’s Guide To A Successful School Year!It’s that time of year again to start getting ready to go back to school, and for a new cheerleading season to start! Congrats on making the squad this year! As an athlete, you have a very busy year ahead of you. Summer is wrapping up, making room for cooler weather, darker skies, and, soon, a familiar routine: Sleep… School… Practice… Homework… Sleep… School… Game… Homework… Sleep…Whether you are a new cheerleader or a seasoned professional, routine can start to make you feel like you don’t have much to cheer about. But don’t fear the blues! There are lots of ways to keep the “cheer’ in cheerleading! Here are some tips from American Cheerleader Magazine’s “Guide For Beating The Cheer Blahs” article to keep your year anything but routine. Grab your cheer BFF and attend a local college’s open gym or open practice. Snagging extra tips and meeting other cheer lovers will keep you pumped up all season. Perk up! Pack a pre-practice snack bag. Throw in fruit, granola bars, nuts and water, but steer clear of sugary soda. It’s only a temporary fix! Play upbeat cheer tunes during warm-ups or pop in your iPod before practice begins. Hitting the road to away games and competitions? “Sometimes I try to make things more fun by bringing a new CD on the bus,” says 15-year-old Sarah Cronk of Pleasant Valley HS in Bettendorf, IA. Other options? Trivia games and cards. To keep everyone pumped up, plan a special awards banquet or event for the end of the school year. Use it as a motivator throughout the season! Pop in a few competition videos featuring the best of the best. Trust us: Seeing other teams in action will motivate your team to work harder than ever before. Your coach gave you your position for a reason, but it never hurts to ask if she’d be willing to let you try a new one. You may not be able to switch jobs midseason, but playing at practice” “only with your coach’s supervision” “will give you the experience you’re looking for. If those two-and-a-half minutes feel like a TV rerun, it may be time for a routine overhaul. Consider switching up stunt groups, changing a few 8-counts or swapping your usual cheer for something more edgy. Is it getting dark well before you head home from practice? Pop outside before practice and during breaks (with permission, of course). The fresh air and sunshine will do wonders to elevate any mood. Several X-Box and Wii games are aimed at health and fitness. These games can turn your everyday practices into major entertainment. Look for active cheer games available for the Wii like Cheer We Go and All-Star Cheer, and Let’s Cheer for the X-Box Kinect. Be creative and add bling to your cheer attire. Whether you add new cheer bows, crazy shoe laces or face decals, doing something different will set your team apart from the rest and make your “same old” uniform feel like new again.