Uniform and Gear Considerations for Coed Cheer Squads

Running a coed cheerleading squad presents a new set of obstacles for team leaders to overcome. With a little planning, though, it shouldn’t be hard to analyze your cheerleading team’s needs and put together a detailed product list that will make ordering uniforms and gear for your cheer squad a breeze! Tips for Ordering Coed Uniforms Order all of your uniforms from the same company. “Red’ is not a universal color when it comes to fabrics, and custom logo designs need to be done in the same style too. Instead of the common cheerleading skirt, men need to have either pants or shorts – depending on the climate and the skill level of the team. Shorts might be more comfortable for advanced levels, and allow for more flexibility and movement. Instead of the typical shell top, short sleeve shirts are standard for male cheerleaders. You may also want to get them a polo shirt and a sweater. The sweater would serve as the equivalent to the female’s long sleeve body basic tops. A good material option for male uniforms is a poly/cotton blend, since it will be easy to get both the male and female uniforms in this fabric. If you order different fabrics for male and female cheerleading uniforms, the colors and overall look won’t match. Shoes for male cheerleaders are very different than shoes for female cheerleaders. Most often it is female cheerleaders that are flyers, which means their shoes have to be light, flexible and offer grips. Male cheerleaders are usually bases, spotters and tumblers, so their shoes need to offer support. It’s a good idea to go with the same brand of shoes, so that even though they won’t be an exact match, the male and female members of your team will still have a similar style of shoe. Tips for Ordering Coed Gear A coed team may be doing more, and more difficult, stunting and power tumbling, so you’ll need different training tools than you would for an all-female squad. Have the females practice with a Stunt Stand, adjusted so that they can practice with a larger platform, which will be similar to a male’s hand. A main skill for most coed teams is power tumbling, so you’ll need to have plenty of mats and a spring floor for practice. Other good equipment are tumble tracks and trampolines. A coed cheer team’s fitness needs are also going to be very different, so make sure that you get the right gear for male conditioning, like larger dumbbells.