!!! To submit articles and tips, or to post a question email nicole@calgarycheer.com!!!
Check out this website for instructional videos: http://www.5min.com/cheerleader
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Email exerpt from Nicole Mosher:
All strength training is useful, but if you are wondering what you should focus on that depends. What is your height and build? Are you naturally strong, or naturally flexible? Do you have strong legs or strong arms? If you are built like a tank then you would likely be a "main base" meaning holding the majority of the stunt, if you are of medium build and average height you would be a "side base", meaning you assist the main base and are primarily responsible for getting the stunt up and keeping it steady. If you are tall you would likely be a third, who supports the stunt from behind the bases and is crucial to getting the flyer's butt up into the air. If you are slender, and also helpful if you are short, you would possibly be a flyer.
Primary focus for positions:
Main base - legs, thighs are hugely important, squats are key. Shoulder press helps too.
Side base - legs but I would say also "shoulder raises", a lot of the time you will spend with your arms outstretched upwards but also towards the main base so shoulder muscles that can handle a variety of positions is useful.
Third - I'm supposed to say legs, but I'm a third and I never work my legs (shhhh! don't tell!) For this position you would benefit from excellent biceps, the shoulder press and I would also suggest forearms/wrists, but maybe that's because I have always has wrist problems from thriding.
Flyer or Top - TRICEPS! Dips are huge! But if you will be a successful flyer you need to pull all sorts of crazy flexible air positions, maybe I would suggest yoga and pilates, as your core will also be key. The air positions are quite specific, check around to see who would be willing to show you how to do them, or do some research online if you think your body-type suggests you would be a flyer.
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Article Submission by Mandy Cheetham - owner of FlyGirl (www.FlyGirl.ca)
"90% of the problems in business are people problems." - Robert Cheetham (my Dad)
Running a cheer gym may make you one of the busiest people on earth. In this fantastic industry of ours growth is your middle name and keeping up with it is your game. You have a split personality. One half of you is a coach and the other is a business owner, and the two often collide like side by side tumblers on wet grass.
This tension between planning for your business and managing your business is never more evident than in the area of staffing. If you are like most gym owners you are coaching, hiring, managing budgets, talking to parents, traveling, making sure uniforms get ordered . . . did I mention talking to parents? You go from try outs to the Battle of Champions and back to try outs again with little time to hire a choreographer – never mind finding coaches for the four new mini teams you suddenly have.
So what do you do? You go to your senior team and ask the most dedicated, strongest kids to spend some hours coaching in the gym in return for discounted fees. They are able to keep cheering while they save for college, and you are getting a coach that you know and trust.
In the early stages of your gym’s growth you may have even trained these athletes-turned-coaches, sat in on their practices, and had them coach with you for a time before they went out on their own. Now it’s three years and 10 teams later and you go to a competition and see your level II teams struggling to hit their extensions and want to hide your face. How did this happen?
You got too busy, you delegated the task of training to another coach - who was either also too busy, or not particular enough, and it did not get done properly.
There are four reasons why training your staff is the most important investment you will make in your business.
1. You can not afford the liability risk of not practicing due diligence in this area.
Just as each coach is responsible for the proper training and supervision of their athletes, you are responsible for the proper training and supervision of your coaches.
2. You are marketing a productthat is visible at every level in your gym.
Every time one of your teams steps onto the mat they are representing you.
3. The teams that have been most neglected are the ones that generate the most income. The lower level teams are the least expensive teams to run because they have fewer coaches, attend fewer competitions, fewer hours in the gym etc. Recreational programs can be the bread and butter for your business if you give them enough of your energy.
4. Hiring and training new staff is expensive, and your gym will grow and profitmore quickly if you have a solid staff that work together and stay with you.
Over the next few weeks we will explore each of these reasons in detail. . .
But since you need answers now . . .
Here are a few quick things you can do to get your gym on track.
1. Focus on the basics.
Take ALL your teams back to basics. Make it mandatory that each team incorporates drills into their practices once per week (we do them for 5 minutes at every practice – each group hits 5 elevator cradles, 5 extension cradles, and 5 liberty cradles together in a circle as a warm up). To be pro-active you can or spend the first three practices of June doing ONLY elevators, extensions and liberties. This can be the week that you attend all practices and make sure that everyone is using the same technique. This will make your athletes more versatile and allow your entire gym to progress much faster come routine time.
2. Write it all out to cover yourself.
Ok, so maybe you don’t fancy writing a manual on coaching cheerleading, but there are plenty of them around that you can borrow from to create a manual for your gym. Each coach should have a copy of this manual and reading it should be one of their job expectations. It should include job descriptions, emergency procedures, technical progressions, policies regarding appropriate behaviour and certification expectations.