Cheerleading: Investigating the Outreach, Development and Health Benefits for Girls. Rebecca Nixon

Transcription

1 Cheerleading: Investigating the Outreach, Development and Health Benefits for Girls Rebecca Nixon

2 Contents Acknowledgements. Page 3 Abbreviations and Glossary Page 3 My Professional Experience. Page 4 Executive Summary.. Page 4 Introduction. Page 5 Aims, Objectives and Purpose of the Project.. Page 7 Method Page 8 Findings.. Page 9 i. Outreach and Retainment of Athletes. Page 9 ii. Skill Development Page 13 iii. Health Benefits. Page 23 Conclusions Page 25 Recommendations Page 26 Dissemination Page 28 References. Page 29 2

3 Acknowledgements I would like to thank the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust for allowing me to undertake this Fellowship and pursue a passion of mine: cheerleading coaching. I would also like to thank all the coaches and staff at the Stingray Allstars, Marietta, who not only allowed me to observe their classes and team practices, but also took the time to talk to me about best practice techniques and the influence of cheerleading on their lives and the lives of the athletes on their teams. Finally, I would like to thank staff and speakers of the Spring Tumbling Annual Coaches Conference who held a range of workshops, sharing tips from years of developing world-renowned cheerleading programmes. Abbreviations and Glossary Abbreviation Meaning BHS Back handspring R5 Restricted level 5 RO USASF F.A.S.T. Roundoff United States All Star Federation Fundamental Ability Stunt Test 3

4 My Professional Experience At the age of 12, I started doing gymnastics and instantly fell in love with the sport. After just a couple of years, it became a big part of my life and I trained 3-5 times a week. I competed for Northern Ireland in both school and club events. Some of my best achievements include Irish Champion, Bronze in the British Schools Championships and Gold in the Celtic Cup. Throughout these years I also coached younger gymnasts to help subsidise the costs of training. When I was 18, I was asked if I would move from coaching recreational gymnastics to the cheerleading squad. This was a challenge at first as I had no prior experience in cheerleading, but it didn't take long for me to get hooked on the sport. After just a few months I moved the team from purely recreational to a competitive team. Interest in the programme increased after the first competition and a group of the older gymnasts in the club started to do cheerleading, so we were able to put together a senior team. As a squad we competed for 4 years in a range of competitions in Ireland, Scotland and England however in 2014, after I moved to England to study, the team was cut. While in England, I completed a PGCE at the University of Cambridge and competed on their cheerleading team, alongside studying. In the beginning, most of my coaching was based on my previous experience in gymnastics and watching YouTube videos, but after a couple of years I got assessed as a cheerleading coach and achieved coaching qualifications. Having returned home, I have now established a new team within my local gymnastics club and I will be aiming to use the experience I have gained from this fellowship to revolutionise the way we train as a squad, to help all members reach their full potential and gain more than just trophies from their time in cheerleading. Executive Summary Through completing this Fellowship, I wanted to discover how cheerleading is being used in America as a means of involving thousands of girls in regular physical activity. In doing this I wanted to answer the question, what can we do in the UK to ensure that cheerleading continues to develop for both recreation participants and elite athletes with a focus on participation and safety? The major finding was that although media often paints a picture that all cheerleaders are blonde skinny girls who only do it for the attention from the boys, I found this to be far from the truth. The girls and boys who participated in cheerleading came from various demographics, and through catering for a wide range of ages and abilities all children who wanted to be on a team were given the opportunity. Something that really surprised me was the commitment and dedication of the gym and coaches to all teams and athletes, regardless of whether it was a team full of beginners or one of the teams that will represent the club at the World Championships. The practices I observed incorporated a range of physical activity including flexibility, strength and cardiovascular training. Although the focus was on enjoyment of cheerleading, the children and young people were meeting various government targets for physical activity through participation in squad training sessions. 4

5 Recommendations based on my findings include: Provide opportunities for teenagers to start as beginners without requiring previous experience. Ensure that athletes of all ability and levels receive the same input of resources, including coaches, time and competition opportunities. Ensure the club offers a range of classes so parents can decide how much time and money they want to commit. Aim to ensure athletes are in the appropriate level and age group. Increase the focus on learning good techniques and progressing safely through the levels. Make connections with other clubs to share coaching ideas and mentor new coaches and clubs. Aim to make use of clinics and workshops put on by other experienced coaches and be willing to change your practice in order to improve as a coach. Introduction A major problem the UK is facing is the extensive strain on NHS resources due to obesity related illnesses. Alongside unhealthy diets, a lack of physical activity plays a key role in this issue, especially in females. When Sport England carried out research into female participation in sport, they found that by every measure females did less regular exercise than males. In fact, when comparing the number of people who do no regular physical activity, they found that there were two million more females between the age of 14 and 40 that fell into this category than males. Their research found that despite this, 75 per cent of females said they wanted to be more active and a fear of judgment on appearance, ability or choosing to spend time on themselves put women of all ages off exercising. In some countries in Europe this is not the case, hence in January 2015 Sport England launched the campaign This Girl Can. The main aim of this was to help females to overcome the barrier of judgment by the use of campaigns that show a more realistic image of women exercising than we see in many other fitness advertisements. One of the sports This Girl Can features is cheerleading. Through a connection with the British Cheerleading Association, it informs people on the different areas of cheerleading offered in the UK and gives information on how to get involved. Although it informs girls about the full range of cheerleading activities available including recreational, stunt, sideline, dance and cheerleading fitness, this Fellowship is going to focus on competitive (Allstar) cheerleading. 5

6 Competitive cheerleading is a team sport in which teams made of 5-36 athletes compete a two and a half minute routine combining stunts, tumbling, jumps, pyramids and dance on a 42 by 54 foot floor. Competitions are held regularly all over the world and over 40 competitions are held annually in the UK. Teams are judged on both the difficulty and technique in their routine. There are 6 levels set out by USASF. These provide a framework for cheerleaders to develop skills gradually as they progress from beginners at level 1 to being a Worlds level team in levels 5 and 6. There are a range of age groups to ensure that competitions are fair and allow children to compete against others their own age. To ensure safety, there are restrictions on the maximum level the tiny, mini and youth teams are allowed to compete at, as shown on the table below. USASF All Star Cheer Divisions Cheer division Age Levels Tiny 6 yrs & younger 1 Mini 8 yrs & younger 1,2 Youth 11 yrs & younger 1-4 and R5 Junior 14 yrs & younger 1-5 Senior 10/12 yrs and older * 1-5 Open 17 yrs & older 6 *This will change depending on cheer division and competition. In the UK, girls often see cheerleaders in American movies and TV shows. The image that this portrays helps to attract teenage girls to the sport; this is a group that is renowned for a decline in physical activity. By completing this Fellowship and helping cheerleading clubs to develop further it is hoped that more girls will get involved in regular physical activity and meet the guidelines set out by the NHS. These guidelines recommend that children and young people should do 60 minutes of physical activity per day. On three days each week these activities should include exercises for strengthening muscles and bones. In many schools, physical education is only scheduled for 1 or 2 hours a week and many young people do very little exercise outside of this. 6

7 Aims, Objectives and Purpose of the Project The aim of this project was to learn about all aspects involved in running a successful cheerleading club, which caters for both elite athletes and recreational participation. The Fellowship focused on three key areas: How cheerleading can be used to involve more girls in sport. How skills can be developed to ensure safety. The health benefits of participating in cheerleading. A key objective of this Fellowship was to learn how to branch out and encourage more girls to participate in cheerleading from experienced clubs. I wanted to see how important it was to cater for all members of the club, and learn how clubs encourage new members to join and retain members in their teenage years, as this is key to increasing the proportion of girls who take part in regular physical activity outside of physical education classes. There are two specific groups I would like to focus on. The first are those who aren t naturally talented at sport, and because of this may not feel confident in joining a sports team. I aim to learn about how to increase participation within this group and how to keep them motivated over a prolonged period of time, even if there is not a huge amount of skill development. The other group are the competitive squads. I would like to learn about the development through the different levels, up to World Championship standard teams. I would like to learn the correct techniques for coaching and developing skills from experienced coaches. People often see cheerleading as shaking pompoms and high kicks, however it can be very dangerous. The number of injuries that occur can be greatly reduced by coaches who are aware of how and when to advance skills. Developing skills correctly from the beginning will hopefully reduce the amount of injuries. The purpose was focused on learning skills and management from coaches and gym owners who are successful. In doing this, knowledge will be brought back to the UK and shared with coaches who are working with hundreds of athletes around the country to help them build their clubs and develop cheerleading safely. It is well known that participation in regular physical activity has a range of health benefits. While in the USA and Canada, I would like to learn about the specific benefits that cheerleading has and how it can be used to help girls meet the targets set out by the NHS. Method In order to achieve all the objectives set out in this Fellowship, I made arrangements to spend four weeks with the Stingray Allstars in their Marietta location in Georgia. The Stingray Allstars were founded in 2002, and since then their programme has continued to grow each year. They now have 24 full year teams, 15 half-year teams, several hundred tumbling students, and over 30 school teams. The club is world-renowned for its elite senior teams; they have won ten world champion titles over the last 14 years. In addition to this they also excel in producing high quality teams in all levels and age groups, with 784 national championship titles to date. 7

8 When with the Stingray Allstars I observed the full range of classes they offered and talked to the coaches and cheerleaders about the techniques they used. The benefits of spending four weeks in the programme included: 1. I observed all of the different classes the gym offered including tumbling, stunting, team practices, school practices and private lessons. 2. I saw how the teams progressed over the weeks that I attended their practices. 3. I attended every practice of a couple of teams (Gray and Peach). This allowed me to see how the coaches adapted training depending on the aim of the practice and the focus of the athletes. 4. I spent time with each of the coaches to observe a range of coaching styles. 5. I spent time in the office, experiencing more about running a cheerleading club than just coaching. After the time at the Stingray Allstars I went to Montreal, Canada, to attend the 6th Annual Spring Tumbling Coaches Conference. Spring Tumbling is an international instructional cheerleading company that teaches cheerleading world-wide. They are results-oriented, and committed to working with athletes of all ages and abilities. They have worked with teams in 33 countries around the world, including many teams in the UK and Ireland. The conference was attended by over 250 coaches from around the world. This gave me the opportunity to talk to other coaches from across the UK and Ireland about their experience of cheerleading in the UK. Over the two day course, I attended a range of workshops hosted by coaches from successful gyms from both the USA and Canada including The California All Stars, Cheer Sport Sharks, Spirit of Texas and Gym Tyme All Stars. Each workshop was an hour and a half long and had demonstrations, discussions and questions from coaches. The workshops included Stunting, Tumbling, Creativity, Understanding the Score Sheets, Branding, Marketing, Hitting Zero, Sports Psychology, Jumping and Flexibility. I learned new techniques in each of these workshops and it was really beneficial learning from people who are experts in the field, and have built up their skills over years of coaching. 8

9 Findings The findings of this Fellowship from both my time at Stingrays and at the Spring Tumbling conference will be shared in this section. There will also be a focus on how these findings relate back to the UK. Some are very specific to cheerleading, although many are transferrable to other sports and activities. The findings have been amalgamated and have been categorized into three main sections: outreach and retainment of athletes, skill development and finally the health benefits of cheerleading. Outreach and Retainment of Athletes This section will focus on the outreach and retainment of athletes. This is important as it will not only encourage more girls to take up the sport, but will also help to ensure members stay with the club for years. To improve outreach and retainment this section will use the following sub sections: Marketing, Maintaining Motivation, Inclusion for All, Reducing the Costs and Managing Payments. Marketing Outreach of the club and retainment of athletes can be closely linked to marketing. It was recommended to me that the focus of this should be equally divided between attracting new members and maintaining a good relationship with returning members. Alongside providing good quality coaching, retainment of athletes can be increased if they make good friends with their team-mates. If the athletes become friends with their team-mates and their parents are friends with the other parents, then they are less likely to leave the team because they will not want to leave their friends. Taking this into consideration, it is important to provide opportunities for teams and parents to bond outside of practice. Assigning a cheer mom to organise parties and outings for that team can provide opportunities for team mates to become close. Examples of gym-wide activities for parents include wine and cheese nights, learn the rules nights, movie nights etc. Holding a number of gym-wide parties may also be beneficial as this will allow athletes to stay friends with people who may have been on their team in previous years, even if they have been placed on different teams. Opening these parties to the local community helps to encourage the community to value the club, and provides an opportunity to publicise the club and meet potential new members. 9

10 In Stingrays, a key aspect of retaining athletes is assigning them to the correct team during tryouts in May. In doing this, athletes will be in teams with others of a similar age and ability, and hence are less likely to get frustrated because they struggle to perform skills or find it too easy. As a large club with over 650 full year athletes they are able to offer 25 teams. These teams are decided in May, after tryouts. This means that they are able to select the levels of the teams based on the athletes that try out. As seen in the table, at many of the age groups there are multiple levels available to accommodate all athletes who try out. I focused on the junior and senior teams offered by the club, as these are the age groups that many girls stop doing sports. Out of the 25 teams formed after tryouts this year, 18 are for girls aged The number of teams in these age groups highlights how cheerleading is different to many other sports. The range of levels offered in these age groups highlights that both the retention of teenage girls and the attraction to beginners is high, even though it is low in many other sports. In this age group, appearance and social status is very important to many girls, and hence I have found that this is a key factor in why girls are attracted to the glamorous side of cheerleading. Team Name Max age/ age range Level Grape 6 1 Coconut 8 2 Mango 11 1 Red 11 2 Black 11 3 Yellow 11 4 Gray 15 2 Scarlet 15 3 Fire 15 3 Platinum 15 4 Royal 15 R5 Green 15 5 Rose Pink Lime Ice Navy UV Sugar R5 Spice Apple Peach Orange Steel Electric Minimum 17 5/6 10

11 Maintaining Motivation Most of the teams in the gym were junior and senior teams. At this age many of the girls were focussed on their goal to improve enough to move into a better team or to win at the big competitions, and because of this the they didn t need to be constantly rewarded throughout practices. However the youngest team in the Stingrays was Grape This team was made up of 5 and 6 year olds. Even in this age group, the team trained for at least 4 hours per weeks. In order to keep children engaged for a 2 hour period the coaches had a range of activities they used. Even at this young age, the athletes were disciplined. This taught them to give their best at every practice and put the team above themselves. Some of the techniques used to encourage the younger athletes are included below. Method Explanation Benefit Conditioning Exercise e.g. bridge-walking length of floor. If the child is misbehaving or distracted then they are given a conditioning exercise which they must complete before returning to the group. This reinforces the importance of following instructions, while also helping the child to improve. Time-Out If the child is not following instructions they are sent to the time-out area. There is a poster with instructions of a conditioning exercise they must do and a timer that times 90 seconds. When they have completed this exercise of 90 seconds they can return to the class. They have time to calm down away from the group while also improving their strength or flexibility, which will help them to develop their cheerleading skills. Sticker Chart Each child has a place on the sticker chart. After a certain time period one child is chosen to collect a prize. Stickers can be given out for a range of different activities during classes, they motivate the children and are cheap to buy. Merit Certificates When the child/ stunt group accomplishes a new skill, they receive a certificate and get their photo taken to be displayed on the team notice board. Very cheap to do but it gives the children something they can show their parents and acts as a reminder of what they have accomplished. Treasure Box Have a treasure box with a range of small prizes e.g. bracelets/ pencils. Do mini competitions within the class e.g. who can perform the skill best, who can collect the most stickers. The winner gets to choose a prize from the treasure box. Children love to win prizes, so work hard towards this. 11

12 Inclusion for All With regards to inclusion within cheerleading, it is possible to integrate a large range of abilities within a team. There are many different roles. Each will carry a different level of difficulty. Even in a club that is very focussed on winning, I observed numerous examples of inclusion of children with learning difficulties and autism. When choreographing routines for specific teams, it is possible to give some children an easier role in the team that they will be able to complete to the best of their ability. This can be included in all sections of stunts, tumbling, jumps and dance. In addition to this the Stingrays also have a team specifically for people with special needs called the Sunshine Rays. Reducing the Cost Often an issue that stops people from starting cheerleading is the cost. When you buy a uniform and pay for training and competitions it can cost thousands of pounds every year. In addition to this, there can be a large time commitment that people may find difficult to commit to. From my time with the Stingray Allstars I was able to learn methods they use to try to cater for people who do not wish to make this commitment. The table below shows the range of classes they offered. Parents could choose to sign their child up to tumbling or stunt classes for a small commitment each week, or if they did not want to commit to this they could send their child to one of the camps that was run throughout the year. Class Allstar Squad Allstar-Prep Tumbling Class Stunt Class Private Lesson Camp Rays Commitment Minimum 4 hours/week team plus 1 hour tumbling for 12 months 4 hours/ week team plus 1 hour tumbling 6 months 1 hour/week 1 hour/week 30 minutes/ week Various one-off camps throughout year The Allstar-Prep allows people to experience what it is like to be on an Allstar team without the large financial and time pressures of joining an Allstar squad. They enter small, local competitions to reduce competition costs, and borrow a uniform from the gym instead of purchasing the Allstar one for over $300. The monthly payments are lower and teams train for fewer hours each week for half the year, instead of the full 12 months. Observing the variety of classes offered by a club that is very well-known for their world-class performances, both in the USA and worldwide, highlights the importance of offering a range of classes to allow as many people to be involved in the sport as possible. A different approach taken by some clubs is having non-travelling teams. These teams train on the same schedule as the other teams in the gym, however they only attend local competitions rather than ones that require flights and hotels. 12

13 Managing Payments. Even in a large successful gym, collecting fees from people is still an issue that causes difficulties in Stingrays. Through years of learning from experience, they have developed a system to help make cheerleading affordable and to ensure that all members keep up to date with payments. If someone decides to try out for a team, the full cost for the year is shared in the initial information pack. As part of the initial payments when joining a team, the uniform and warm-up tracksuit are paid for by parents. Uniforms are kept for two seasons. This means that there are some second hand uniforms that are often available to purchase for 50% of the costs. Monthly fees to be in an Allstar squad are set to include the cost for the classes, fees for music, choreography sessions with external choreographer and competition entry fees. Spreading these costs throughout the year helps parents to budget for the year as they won t be asked for hundreds of dollars to cover competition entry fees later in the year. At the start of each month, iclass Pro is used to send invoices out to all of the parents in the gym. Fees can either be paid in person at the gym or parents can opt in for an automatic credit card payment each month. The Stingrays used a variety of techniques to collect money from families who fall behind in payments. This includes sending an invoice via on the 1st of each month, which reminds people that the fees are due, and informs them of the exact fees due for the upcoming month s classes they have enrolled in. The club aims to have a credit card on file for each member and then one week after the invoices have been sent, any missing fees are charged to the card on file. If this is unsuccessful the club sets a date, on which any child with outstanding fees will be asked to sit out of practice until they are up to date on fees. Before this date they will receive reminder s and a phone call from the office, where they will discuss options to help them with payments. If parents are struggling to afford to pay then the gym will help them come up with a payment plan and may reduce the fees if they have a service they can offer, for example cleaning or merchandise. Skill Development In addition to all of the points raised about marketing and motivation, development will also play a key role in retaining and attracting members into the team as people want to be involved in a programme where they know they will continually improve. Cheerleading competitions are split into 6 levels and there is a gradual increase in difficulty as you progress through the levels. This allows for gradual development. In order to see improvements over time, it is important that good coaching techniques are used and the programme provides athletes with opportunities to learn new skills. This section will focus on this development, both in coaching techniques and club structures. The findings have been split into four key areas that will require development in order to progress through the levels: stunts, tumbling, jumps and routine choreography and execution. Stunting Stunting is an area of cheerleading that makes it stand out from many other sports. It is this that cheerleaders are most well known for and this is reflected in the score sheets, where 45% of the score is made up from stunts, tosses and pyramid. Hence developing the strength, technique, trust and flexibility to perform these stunts plays a major role in the overall development of cheerleaders. 13

14 The Stingray Allstars offered 2 classes that were specifically aimed at improving stunts. The most basic of these was a flexibility class. This was a 1 hour class that focussed on improving the flexibility and strength of flyers to improve their body positions on the floor. The composition of the class included a run, warm-up lines of conditioning and then the remainder of the class was focused on improving specific flexibility for the required skills. When flyers were able to perform all of their body positions with good technique on the floor, they advanced into a stunt class. Three coaches were required to run this class. Each flyer was allocated a time to work with two male coaches who were experienced bases. They had charts that team coaches filled in, so the coaches knew what areas the flyers need to work on. There were three main benefits for flyers from working with two experienced bases instead of their usual bases. 1. They were working with men who were experts at basing and hence for safety reasons when learning a new stunt, they were more likely to catch the flyer if something went wrong, so therefore the risk of injury was reduced. 2. The flyer was able to focus on their role in the stunt without worrying about others in their group doing the correct thing. This allowed a great focus to be put on the technique of the flyer. 3. The flyer must learn how to hold their body weight and balance with just two bases. This means they will make it much easier for the group when they compete with three or four bases. When at the conference, I attended numerous stunting workshops. Some of these were level specific workshops where skills and progressions were demonstrated and coaches shared on how to the achieve the top score in the level. Other workshops were skill specific and focused on the development of skills throughout all of the levels, for example spin it to win it, in which the coaches taught about how to teach spinning skills as athletes progress, and also creative baskets, which focused on how changing the entry to baskets can help increase the visual effects the baskets create. The main coaching points that I picked up from these were: By using F.A.S.T. techniques, the athletes can move on quicker from basic moves and will learn to work on counts as part of a team with good technique. The grips that the bases use are key in ensuring that stunts work, and it is important to focus on this and be sure that you use grips that will help ensure skills will work. Groups should be able be able to perform the basic skills and progressions with good technique before being progressed onto more difficult skills. Teams should compete skills that they can do well, instead of pushing to do more difficult skills that they perform with poor technique. When performing twisting skills, teams should perform both the maximum twist to one foot stunts and the maximum twisting to a two foot stunt. Choose flyers carefully, taking into consideration both size and ability to hold themselves in the air. Try to reduce the extra movement of bases as much as possible. 14

15 During my time at the Stingrays, they were at the stage of improving the technique and consistency of stunts, while also making slight alternations in preparation for the first competition of the season. When teams were practising their stunts, the coaches used a variety of techniques to improve stunts. This included: Rippling through the stunt sequence, one group at a time. This allows the coaches to observe each group on their own and give feedback about how to improve before moving on to the next group Having mini competitions within the team, for example stunt battles, where two stunt groups perform simultaneously and the coaches select the group that had the best technique to advance to the next round. This continues until a winner is chosen. This simulates some of the pressure they will experience at competition and teaches the groups to not give up if part of the stunt does not go to plan. Another game, similar to this, which was used in the younger teams was show and tell. This gave each group the opportunity to perform their stunt for the rest of their team. The coaches gave the cheerleaders a target, e.g. best facials or best technique, and would give a sticker to the group that did the best. Choosing a piece of music and telling the team to continually ripple through their stunt until the end of the song or until X minutes have passed. The team were able to do a large number of repetitions of stunts, and coaches were able to ensure that all groups were working at the same intensity, as they all attempted the stunt the same number of times. In addition to this, making the groups that dropped a stunt during this time repeat the stunt for each time they dropped it helped to encourage groups to fight to keep their flyer in the air. Use of an app, e.g. AB repeat, which can be used to repeat a segment of music numerous times to allow a team to practice stunts to their competition music with ease. Marking through the rest of the routine to music but completing the stunt sequence. This gives the team the chance to practice it in the context of the routine but without the physical exertion that a full out routine causes. 15

16 Tumbling Tumbling is a key aspect of cheerleading routines. Points are awarded for the difficulty and technique of both running and standing tumbling. When varsity score sheets are used it is worth 20% of the team s score, which highlights the importance of doing it well. Eighty percent of the team must perform two standing level appropriate passes and one running level appropriate pass with excellent precision, form and synchronisation to achieve a top tumbling score. To help athletes develop both the skills they need for the level they currently compete in and the level they hope to work towards, the Stingray Allstars offer a 1 hour tumbling class to all team members. These classes are not assigned by age but instead are differentiated by skill level, so all participants in the class will be of similar tumbling ability. There are 6 levels of class offered in the gym, and classes are offered 5 days a week to help accommodate the vast majority of athletes. The classes levels are beginner and then levels 1-5, in conjunction with the competition levels. Small class sizes (maximum 8) and working with one coach allows for the class to be tailored for the specific needs of the athletes. In these classes, the athletes work specifically on skills in that level. When they have mastered the hardest skills in the level then they are able to move on to the more advanced class. The club has a poster that is clearly visible to all athletes and parents in the gym to show the skills they will learn in each level and the comparative difficulty of these skills, as shown in the picture below. This opportunity to move up through the levels allows athletes to have achievable goals, and constantly reaching new goals helps to maintain motivation. 16

17 The structure of the classes followed a general structure, with the skills adapted for the level. I will now explain this basic structure, then give examples of preps that the coaches in Stingrays and at the conference used for teaching new skills. The classes always started with a run and then lines of skills performed as part of a dynamic warmup. This was ideal for a tumbling class as it activated the muscles that were used during the class and helped to improve the range of motion and body awareness. The lines of skills including some of the following: Run with knees up Run kick bottom Step kicks, forwards and backwards Lunge walks Cross knee pulls Caterpillar walks (walk hands out and walk feet in) Bunny hops Squat walks Bear Crawls (spider walks, walking on hands and feet) Bridge walks The next segment of the class focused on preps for new skills that were being learned by the participants in the class. The coaches used a variety of equipment to teach new tumbling skills, including a sprung floor, trampoline, foam pit, fast track and a variety of safety mats and wedge mats. The benefit of this was that skills could be broken down into smaller segments to allow the athlete to master parts of the skill before performing the final skill. It also reduced the amount of spotting required from coaches, and reduced the dependancy of athletes on spotting from coaches. Examples of preps for a range of skills in each level are shown below. Beginner Forwards roll down an incline, gradually reduce the gradient of the incline (knees and feet together without using hands to get up). Backwards roll to front support down incline then stand up (arms should be straight before feet land on the floor). Bunnyhop over a panel mat, with one leg in front of the other (gradually try to straighten legs). Cartwheel over the corner of a mat. Practice of lunge shape for handstand. Start in a lunge shape and tilt forward to touch the wall or mats, then return to lunge shape (keep a straight line from fingers to toes throughout). Handstand practice either on a safety mat, beside a safety mat, against a wall with nose facing wall or using a block to rest feet to hold a pike shaped handstand (ensure shoulders head are in line and back is straight). To build up strength and flexibility for bridges and walkovers, sit on knees facing away from the wall, walk hands down the wall to the floor and back up again (keep hips pushed forwards). 17

18 Practice holding bridges using a variety of adaptations, including 1 leg in the air, one arm, running feet, trying to touch feet to hands and rocking to push shoulders past hands. Level 1 Use a wedge or panel mat to raise level of feet in bridge and kick over to feet from this position, gradually reduce the height of feet until they are at ground level (shoulders should be pushed over hands before kicking over). Use a pile of safety mats or a couple of panel mats, drop back into a bridge with hands on mat and then stand up, gradually reduce the height of the mats (head should remain in line with arms by ears, feet flat, push hips forward and knees push straight when standing up). Use a panel mat lengthways for learning RO. Place lunge leg towards the centre of the mat and hands will be placed at the end (should turn second hand to face to direction they have come from and have hands off the mat by the time their feet are on the floor). A similar drill for learning RO: use 3 panel mats to promote the correct placement of hands and feet. The first is to stand on, one to lunge to and the final one to for the hands to go on. Needle kick, needle kick, RO or RO from arabesque. Use three rubber bands tied together on feet to increase the drive of the back leg. Level 2 Jump back onto stacked safety mats into hollow position to learn the feeling of jumping backwards. Use a wedge to BHS down, first being spotted by coach then alone. When this has been achieved do on a level surface, then up the slope before progressing. Roundoff rebound to land on back in hollow position on stacked safety mats. Use a block to handstand on the scoop legs down fast into BHS. Roundoff off a panel mat into immediate BHS Roundoff BHS over a safety mat with only hands allowed to touch the mat (focusing on the correct length of BHS). 18

19 Level 3 Using a large wedge to promote speed during BHS, athletes can perform double BHS down the slope. To advance from this the athlete can perform this on a flat surface then up the slope (speed should increase throughout). Front tuck from a height to land on a safety mat. Set up stack of safety mats with a wedge on top, run and jump and forwards roll down the wedge (arms should be by ears on take-off and landing). When roundoff BHS tuck has been mastered on the floor, practising it up a slope can help to improve it so the athlete will be ready to move on to straights and twists. Level 4 For standing tuck, lie in a dish with arms by ears and pull knees to shoulders fast and roll back slightly (this should be a fast motion with the knees creating the rotation). For standing tuck, place foam block in front of their face and tell them to kick it with their toes as they tuck. On trampoline place module mat (or wedge folded) on the bed and then teach athlete to jump and tuck back up. This develops the set needed. RO BHS punch to to candlestick on stacked safety mats to learn correct take-off and body positions for layout. 19

20 Level 5 Work roundoff BHS layout onto a raised surface then jump half turn to land in the same spot (land in hollow neutral position). Gradually add the the twist in (should only start to twist when they can see the floor), gradually build up from 1/4, 1/2, 3/4 etc. (both hands should be on one side of the body when twisting). Full twist drill using box beside a safety mat, lie on side in a dish shape then keeping dished roll to side and try to complete 360 before landing on the safety mat. Standing fulls are primarily a power skill, hence the key to learning this is conditioning. Many cheerleaders have under developed hamstrings and gluts, so focus on this area using some of the following drills. Practise standing tucks onto a raised surface Ball drill-candlestick lifts over twist shoulder Candlestick rolls Hollow arch hangs on bar The remainder of the class was used to practice tumble skills to put the preps into practice. The coaches gradually increased the difficulty of skills to minimise the amount of spotting required and ensure the athletes were ready to progress. Finally, the last few minutes of the class was used for conditioning and cool down. A large emphasis was put on handstands against a wall. The coach focussed on the athlete having a straight back and shoulders in line. Through observation of the choreography session of a Worlds team s tumbling section I was able to see that the choreographer starts off with all of the athletes standing in their last formation then works back to build up the tumbling section of the routine.they start with the best tumbler and fit everyone else around them, using a total of approximately 7 groups. The coaches at Stingrays said they change the structure of the classes from time to time based on new techniques, and they are constantly trying to improve their coaching to make it more efficient. A coach from the conference recommended the following structure for a 1 hour class plan. It is similar to Stingrays but with some slight variations. 10 minutes: dynamic warm up 10 minutes: lines 15 minutes: skills practice 15 minutes: focus on learning new skills 10 minutes: stretch, conditioning, play cool down 20

21 Jumps In a cheerleading routine, jumps make up a relatively small percentage of the score: just 10% of the varsity score sheet is allocated to this. However spending time working on jumps will also positively impact other areas of the score sheet e.g. performance. It will also act as a good conditioning skill for improving tumbling and stunting. Through both my time at Stingrays and attendance of a jumps workshop with Brett Hansen of Spirit of Texas, I have put together a list of tips for teaching jumps. Work on flexibility to improve range of motion. Work on kicks as a team with arms in a strong T position and snapping clean. Reinforce the importance of pointing toes as soon as they leave the ground. This teaches athletes how to roll their hips and have their knee turned back sightly. Moving on to a tuck jump, focusing on bringing the knees to the chest will also reinforce this motion of rolling the hips. Perfect the arm motions with a straight jump. You should hear the clap and finish clean, as this encourages landing with legs together. Ensure you emphasis to push through toes as they jump, this will encourage pointed toes. Return to straight jumps when moving from single jumps to combinations Using 3 large elastic bands tied together on each ankle provides resistance. Toe touch jumps using these can greatly improve the height of legs when they are removed. When teaching front hurdles facing the side, reinforce which count you want the team to turn on, and split the jump into each leg so they can feel what each leg should be doing independently. Encourage them to look at their foot during the jump. In pike jumps, try to focus on moving the legs up before the chest moves down and only fold at the last second. One coach recommended that athletes should perform 15 of each other their jumps at each practice, either alone or in combination. Teach pike and straddle jumps with landing in the direction they begin facing, it is very difficult to turn before landing, it is much easier to turn on the way up to the next jump. With hurdlers it is easier to turn on the way down before landing. Focusing on the angles of all take-off and landing will help to make the jumps look much more uniform, even if the jumps themselves aren't all perfect. The maximum recommended turn between jumps should be 45. Jumps conditioning: Ankle Raises - hands on waist and raise onto toes and down as a team. Repeat with toes together and ankles apart. 50 is a good place to start, aiming to increase to 100. Leg Swings, pausing at above 90 and 90. Fast Star Jumps with arms clean by side Straddle V-Sits - should start in a dish with arms in a candle stick position and hit a T as the legs and straddled. Straddle Sits, hands on floor - lift legs and circle 15 times forwards and 15 times backwards. 21

22 Routine Choreography and Execution When the athletes have developed skills and are ready to enter competitions, it is important that routines are choreographed to best showcase these skills, as well as meeting all the criteria to score well at competitions. Many judging panels are now using the new varsity score sheet. This is available from varsityallsar.com, alongside a variety of presentations which explain each section. These are the same presentations that the judges received in training hence are very valuable to watch. This new score sheet allows for a greater range in judges score based on execution, and hence the execution of skills is going to play a much bigger role in teams scores in future competitions than it has in the past. With this in mind it is important to balance the difficulty of elements with teams abilities to perform them with good technique. Though speaking with judges and successful coaches, I have put together a list of tips they have given to help when preparing for competition: Open the routine with something that is good to watch and is engaging to the judges. Focus on your own team s strengths and do this to perfection. Try to focus on transitions before adding choreography, always face forwards and avoid crossing the centre if possible. Watch routine from the side to make it easier to spot faults in formations. When perfecting stunts and baskets, break it down to small sections or pause on certain counts to ensure that both bases and flyers are in synchronisation with other groups. Make tumbling easy to watch. There is no specific tumbling score for creativity, so the more straight forward it is the less likely judges are to miss something. Don t show skills in tumbling that are not level appropriate, they will not get credited and may hide level appropriate skills. To hit the top stunt quantity score, all stunt groups must hit the same elite level stunt at the same time or in ripple. If one group does a different skill this will not count as full team quantity. Not every stunt in a routine has to hit stunt quantity to get scored for this, you only have to do this once. In stunt sequences, the fewer the bases, the higher the difficulty score. This is not the case for baskets: if you have more than 3 people not involved in baskets, this will reduce your score as they could make a new group. Putting these people as front spots will avoid this. Take a video of part of routine and from this take 3 photos. If all groups are not in sync these photos will show it. If you have extra athletes in stunts and don't need front spots it is better to get them to stand behind the stunt or do level appropriate tumbling than front spot. Performing 2 different jumps will be counted as a variety of jumps. 22

23 Health Benefits The World Health Organisation defines health as a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. Based on this definition, I have divided this section into the three subsections: physical, mental and social well-being. Each section aims to answer the question how does cheerleading improve this for teenage girls?. I did not complete any scientific experiments to produce these findings, instead they are based on observations and discussions with athletes and coaches. Physical Well-Being For young people (aged 5-18), the NHS recommends that 60 minutes of moderatevigorous physical activity should be completed every day. On three days each week these activities should include muscles and bone strengthening exercises, such as push-ups or jumping. Being part of a cheerleading team requires commitment, and coaches are dedicated to ensuring that athletes miss as few practices as possible. The coaches also have to incorporate a range of training techniques to have the athletes primed for routines. To perform well in a 2 minute 30 seconds cheer routine, athletes must have good cardiovascular fitness. For stunts and tumbling, they require strength and jumps which are important in a cheer routine will help to strengthen bones. This means that in almost every training session, athletes will complete both muscle and bone strengthening activities alongside cardiovascular activity. It is this range of training that ensures cheerleading a couple of times per week helps the athletes to reach their physical goals set out by the NHS. I asked athletes about how cheerleading helped them to improve their cardiovascular fitness. They told me how their coaches used a range of techniques including squad conditioning, running and routine repetitions to improve fitness. One girl told me about a small study she completed as a school project. She gave heart rate monitors to some members of her cheerleading team to wear during practice. The results of her study showed that all of the athletes heart rates increased to 80-90% of maximum during routines and if the athlete was a key tumbler in the routine, their heart rate increased more than other members in the team. At this rate, the athletes are said to be in the cardio training zone and hence an improvement in cardiovascular fitness will be observed. Mental Well-being There is often a stigma associated with mental health, however it encompasses a wide range of conditions and has a major impact on our society, with approximately 70 million working days lost to mental health each year. Approximately one in four of us will have problems with mental health at some point in our life. In schools, a greater emphasis is being put on improving mental health and I found that cheerleading has also had a positive effect for many young people. One of the young coaches who had recently made the transition from world champion athlete to coach said the following about what cheerleading taught her. 23

24 Cheerleading taught me patience. There comes times within every season where the going gets tough. When you learn to take a step back and figure out what the problem is, it is much easier to fix things and move on. Now, my short fuse is definitely not cured, but cheerleading has given me true tests that have led to a better appreciation for taking a breath, trusting the process and enjoying the grind Cheerleading has taught me how to put myself together again. The stress of being on a competitive cheer team is enough to overwhelm a person. Throw in a big name gym and a big name team and the levels go off the charts. You walk on the floor every competition with preset expectations set upon your shoulders and pray to the cheer gods that you can get through just 2:30 without messing something up. Then something goes wrong. You lose the biggest competition of the season and feel like the world has fallen apart. You were supposed to be great and follow the footsteps of the athletes before you. You were supposed to lead the team. You were supposed to succeed but you let it slip through your fingers. You truly do not know how to move on. But you do. You learn how to get up and go, not forgetting, but letting it drive you to do better. This highlights some of the key benefits to mental health that cheerleading offers. The lessons learned in cheerleading to deal with pressure and learn from failure are directly transferable to adult life when we cannot be in control of everything and must rely on others to help us. Self-confidence is an important component of mental health. If people have belief in themselves they are more likely to rise to challenges that occur in their life. Through attending a sports psychology workshop with a coach who specialises in this, I am able to share 9 tips for helping to build self confidence in others: 1. State your purpose in one statement: know what they need to develop and why. 2. See yourself as a tool to unlock the potential in other people. 3. Embrace hardship as a tool for making you strong (it is more about what you know than what you can do). 4. Greatness comes from using your talents to build others. 5. Always be learning. 6. Build trust in every relationship. 7. Become obsessed with the success of others, even if they are unlikeable. 8. Possess a servant s heart. 9. Don t complain or be negative. 24