IMPORTANT VENUE CHANGE This event is being held at the UTSA Convocation Center NOT AT ST. MARY S UNIVERSITY! PLEASE SEE THE ATTACHED MAP! All hair is to be pulled into a HIGH, flat-ironed ponytail, this will allow for a higher bow position. The ponytail is to be ON-TOP/ABOVE the crown of the head SEE PICTURE! We are still having athletes show up without teased ponies. If you need help with hair, please see the front desk this week so we can pair you up with someone to assist you with hair at the venue. HAIR INSTRUCTIONS ON BACK SIDE! Hair & make-up take time, so please plan accordingly! Don t forget to bring straighteners to competition for touch-ups especially on cold and/or rainy weather days. Most athletes will need some touch-ups once they arrive. Make-Up: All of the make-up kit pieces have arrived athletes should have received a make-up bag, lipstick, 3 color eye and blush kit, silver sparkle cream and eyeliner. If you are missing any of these items please see the front desk BEFORE the event. Back Packs: Team back packs are to be carried by athletes at the event. Back packs should have event day essentials such as hair and make-products, healthy snacks and water. Athletes are not to carry money or cell phones in their bags as there may be times when bags are left unattended. State Champion Long-sleeved T-Shirt for Grand Champion Winners Grand Champion Trophies Awards: First Place Division Team Banner, 2nd and below Official Cheer America Banner First Place Teams will receive medallions for each athlete Second and Below Teams will receive a gift for each athlete Athletes are to arrive at the designated arrival time. Odyssey Cheer faithfully believes in program support therefore your arrival time is based on program performance times. For parents dropping off athletes, please make sure that your athlete has a buddy to walk with. CYCLONES SHOCKWAVE TSUNAMI BLACK ICE Arrival: 11:45 PM Warm-Ups: 1:10 PM After Cyclones performance, they will be dismissed for lunch. Cyclones are to return to the arena at 3:45 pm to meet the coaches. Arrival: 1:30 PM Warm-Ups: 3:00 PM After their performance, Shockwave is to return to the stands to watch Tsunami and Black Ice & wait for awards. Athletes are not dismissed until after awards. Arrival: 1:45 PM Warm-Ups: 3:45 PM Report to AWARDS AT 5:10 PM! Arrival: 3:00 PM Warm-Ups: 4:20 PM Report to AWARDS AT 5:10 PM! We will not have a private practice room at this event this is our first time competing at this location. We will locate a designated drop-off and pick-up location as soon as we arrive. This information will be sent out to you via TeamApp the day of the event. If you are not currently receiving TeamAPP messages or would like to add a family member, please see Jessica or Lisa. Make sure your alerts are on for the app. Remember that athletes are to be competition ready by their arrival time at the meeting location. Parents are to return to the stand after dropping off athletes with coaches.
PLEASE MAKE EXTRA TIME TO PARK AND WALK THROUGH THE CAMPUS! Visitors attending all UTSA home games at the Convocation Center (MARKED CC ON THE MAP ABOVE) will be able to park in any open UNMARKED spaces in Brackenridge Avenue Parking Lot 1 (BK1) and Brackenridge Avenue Parking Lot 2 (BK2). Parking in BK1 encompasses the parking area in front of the Convocation Center and BK2 is in front of the UTSA Recreation & Wellness Center. Visitors that are unable to find available parking in BK1 or BK2 are encouraged to park in the Ximenes Avenue Parking Garage, which is located directly to the southeast of the Convocation Center. When returning to their parked vehicles in the Ximenes Avenue Garage, visitors must visit the cashier's booth in northwest corner of the garage with the parking card they received at the gate upon entering the garage. Individuals that show their game ticket from that night's game will receive a discounted rate of $4. Please note a cashier must be present to receive the discount. The garage cashier hours are 7:30 a.m.-10 p.m. on Monday-Thursday and 7:30 a.m.-8:30 p.m. on Friday. Parking in the Brackenridge Lots likely is to be congested during weeknight games held while academic classes are in session during the season, so please take that into consideration when parking at a Convocation Center event.
Make-Up & Hair - Please remember that the girls are extremely far from the judges at some events. Make-up is to be applied heavier than one would wear on a normal day. Eyes: The look we are going for is a smoky eye. Mascara and eyeliner are required on all athletes. Senior athletes are asked to wear false eyelashes! Lips & Cheeks: RED RED RED! Please do not use any other lip stick than the one that is provided. All athletes need to wear blush. A neutral color has been provided to you in your make-up kit. Nails & Jewelry: Per USASF Rules and Regulations, athletes are prohibited from wearing nail polish and jewelry on the performance floor. Please remove all jewelry from your child, coaches are not responsible for lost jewelry. Hair: You will need a Comb, Brush, Ponytail Holders that are the color of your hair (we recommend Goodie regular and no slip), Bobbi Pins and/or Snap Clips, Aerosol Hair Spray& Molding Wax or a Non-Flaky Gel. 1) Start with a molding wax or gel to smooth back fly-aways along the hairline. 2) Next put hairspray along the hairline and comb the hair into a high ponytail. We recommend a very strong aerosol hair spray. Don't worry about the hair having "bumps." You are going to comb those out in the next few steps. Only use one ponytail holder for this step. The ponytail should be directly on top of head, not on the BACK of the head. It is important that it is on top of the head - depending on the size of the cheerleader it should be about three-four inches from the hairline. 3) Next use hair spray in sections around the ponytail. Spray one section and comb out all the "bumps" toward the ponytail holder. Spray another section and comb out the bumps in that section. Keep repeating this step until all the bumps are smoothed out. The section closest to the ponytail holder will look really "messy" at this point, but don t worry! 4) Take out the ponytail holder you just put in while holding the ponytail in the same position. Use a brush to "smooth" out only the part closest to the ponytail holder. Don't brush through the parts you sprayed in the last step. Keep the brush close to the ponytail and away from the hairline in this step. Put the original ponytail holder back in and add a second ponytail holder to the hair at this time. You will want to use as many as three or four ponytail holders before putting in the cheer bow. Use hair spray and bobbi pins and/or snap clips to pin down any fly-aways that are underneath and around the sides. 5) Attach the ponytail on the bow underneath the other ponytail holders on the front of the head. 6) Ponytails are to be TEASED with no curls at the tips! YouTube is a great place to look for tutorials (search cheer hair tutorial), here is an example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbpdisu1vwo Uniforms It should be neat and clean. Bras worn underneath must be white or nude with no-straps showing. We also recommended that boy-cut underwear/brief look the best with our uniforms. Please take care in washing this uniform by hand only. I recommend carrying Shout Wipes with you. Please talk to your athlete about care of their competitive WHITE skirts this season. For Example: when sitting on concrete and other floor areas, athletes need to lift their skirts and sit on their black spanks. Socks & Shoes: Socks need to be white and the low no show type. This means little to NONE of the sock showing please. Shoes should be clean and free of holes and tears. Surviving Competitions Competition time is finally here. Our athletes are well prepared and ready to perform, but as new parents you may be a little concerned about what to expect. Here is a list of Odyssey standards for our gym as well as helpful hints to help you get through the day! 1.Phone # s: Have Coach Robin s, Jessica s & Lisa cell phone # s in your cell phone right NOW. If you don t already, they are as follows: Robin 832-705-5645 Jessica 832-274-2313 Lisa 281-389-8546 2. Arrival: Know your arrival time. Often times the coaches or staff will be in front of the venue or in the lobby of a convention center to take role for each team. If you are running late, please text or call one of the numbers
above ASAP to let them know the status. Some competitions require wrist or shoe tags for the athletes to get in so it s very important to communicate with the staff on where you are so we know what to expect. 3. Venues: Know where you re going. Map Quest your directions and always add time for finding parking and allow for traffic. (Expect parking to take 15 to 20 min at least!) 4. Entrance/Parking Fees: Most all venues parking & entrance fee is CASH ONLY. 5. Odyssey Clothing and Your Athlete: All Odyssey athletes MUST be in full Odyssey uniform during the WHOLE competition. They must also have competition shoes on at all times. NO flip flops, sandals or Ugg type boots unless they are approved by Odyssey. 6. Odyssey Clothing and YOU: Nothing looks better at a competition than a sea of Black and Blue! If you haven t purchased an Odyssey T-shirt or jacket yet, do it now. If you can t find something in our current stock try to wear Blue or Black. 7. Seating: Seating is always 1st come 1st serve and saving seats in never allowed. We would like our Odyssey families to sit together as best they can. It looks good and really pumps up the girls when we are chanting: We Are (Clap) (Clap) Odyssey (Clap) (Clap) all together from one area (dad s we need your help getting these chants started). So come early and stay late for each performance for the best seating and competition experience. 8. Warm-Ups to Performance: The coaches will gather each team at least 1-1.5 hours (sometimes more) prior to their performance time. The only thing that goes back stage to the warm-up area is your athlete. No backpacks, jewelry, cell phones or parents. This time is very important for the coaches to get the teams focused on the task at hand. While back stage they stretch and warm-up each element of the routine. The next time you get to see them is when they take the mat. Directly after they are done performing the coaches will huddle the athletes and go over the performance of the routine. You will be notified via messenger on the pick-up location and time. 9. Performance for the Parents: At most competitions there is a front row space for the performing team to watch. It s super important that if you re an Odyssey parent/friend and an Odyssey team is performing that you come down to support that team. When the teams takes the mat we chant altogether: We Are (Clap) (Clap) Odyssey (Clap) (Clap) repeat. Then throughout the performance go CRAZY with clapping and cheering. (Especially during the pyramid and élite sections that you know they have been working so hard on)! The kids will feed off our energy and it really can help a performance! 10. Awards: ALL members of the team must be present and on stage for awards. The Athletes must once again be in FULL UNIFORM from their bow to their shoes. This means NO warm-up jackets, sweats, sweat shirts, etc. When we meet for awards, please collect back-packs from your athlete and make sure if you take your child out of the building to feed them that your know when you need to be back for awards. Please check the location of your awards ceremony this weekend, awards for Cyclones and Shockwave are in a different hall. 11. Conduct at Competitions: It s very important that all Odyssey athletes, coaches, parents, family and friends act in a respectful manner at competitions. Emotions can run hot, and stress levels high on these days so please be kind and courteous to those around you from our gym and other gyms. The coaching staff my appear aloof on competition days and keep a bit of a distance from the general population. Do not be alarmed or offended! They are just trying to keep focus on our teams and what we are there to do! 12. Performance Times: You will see a time for your child s team to arrive, their performance time and awards for their team. They need to be on time and present for all of those. If you do not have e-mail access to receive this information, you can check competition times on our website @ www.odysseycheer.com under the TEAM section.