HINGHAM YOUTH FOOTBALL CHEER & DANCE 2018 HANDBOOK

HINGHAM YOUTH FOOTBALL CHEER & DANCE 2018 HANDBOOK

HYF CHEER & DANCE 2018 Season Information Please READ, PRINT & SIGN the last page. Keep the information portion of the handbook for your records. Dates & times subject to change. Welcome to Hingham Youth Cheer & Dance Thank you for your interest in our program. Cheerleading is a great sport that combines cheering, dancing, stunting and tumbling in a team environment that is fun, challenging and rewarding HYF Cheer, Dance & Stunt is a FUN non-competitive sport for Hingham students entering grades 2 8 for the upcoming school year. There are NO tryouts and all girls interested participate fully in both side-line cheers, on-field halftime dance routines and stunting. No experience is needed to participate. Cheerleaders in grades 2-4 will cheer on the B Squad for the Mites and Peewee (grades 2-5) Hingham Youth Football games with occasional travel games to nearby towns. Cheerleaders in grades 5-8 will cheer on the A Squad for Peewees and Midgets (grades 5-8) HYF Football home games with occasional travel games to nearby towns. 2018 Registration Information Registration for the 2018 HYF Cheer & Dance opens on March 20th and closes on June 30th. Registration can be accessed on the the Hingham Sports website, under the HYF Cheer & Dance tab. You will also find all of the necessary forms and cheer documents on this website. NEW THIS YEAR- - - Registration fee includes cheerleading shoes and practice uniform in addition to stunt camp, socks, hair bows, bag, and uniform rental. Registration fee for B Squad (2nd - 5th grades) is $250. Registration fee for A Squad (5th - 8th grades) is $275. Registration fees for second child is $150. http://www.hinghamsports.com/page/show/284917-hyf-dance-and-cheer Please note: NO late registrations will be accepted after June 30th, so register early and make sure to spread the word-what s more fun than cheering alongside your friends

IMPORTANT HYF CHEER & DANCE DATES: Intro to Cheer Skills & Drills Clinic When: Wed, May 2, 2018 (early release day) - 1p to 3p Where: Rec Center Barn Cost: FREE **This clinic is open to any Hingham student entering into grades 2nd - 8th interested in Cheering with HYF. You DO NOT have to be a registered HYF Cheerleader to join us for this fun Intro to Cheering Skills and Drills Event.** This clinic is open to anyone from grades 2nd - 8th that is interested in seeing what HYF Cheer, Dance & Stunt is all about. This will be a fun afternoon for returning cheerleaders, new cheerleaders as well as anyone who just wants to try it out to see if they would like to become a cheerleader for the upcoming 2018 fall season. We will be teaching cheers, movements, minidances and very basic stunting. We will also provide ice cream treats for all participants. This is going to be a fun event and we hope to see all of our returning cheerleaders and meet new ones too Please sign-up early by emailing Cheer Coordinator-Chez Coyle at cchyfcheer@gmail.com. Registration for Skills & Drills Clinic only ends on April 25th. Mandatory Parents Meeting/Welcome Night When: Thursday, May 31, 2018 Where: Chez Coyle s house Time: 7:00p Please remember to bring your signed forms to this mtg **Parents of all registered cheerleaders only. Drinks and nibbles will be served. More details to follow. Uniform Try-on and Shoe Ordering-Mandatory **For time-efficiency, Try-ons will be staggered this year over 2 days. Slots will fill up on a first sign-up basis. ** Please sign-up for one of the time slots listed below by emailing Chez cchyfcheer@gmail.com with your requested day and time. When: Wednesday, August 1st Time Slots: 10a OR 12p OR 4p OR 5p OR 6pm When: Thursday, August 2nd Time Slots: 10a OR 12p OR 4p OR 5p OR 6pm

Pre-season Stunt Camp Stunt Camp is mandatory and paid as part of your on-line registration fee. Please arrive ON- TIME, dressed with cheer shoes, practice uniforms, hair up in high ponytails, with water bottles and a light snack. Camp will start promptly at 9am. Location: Premier Spirit Athletics Cheer & Tumble Training Facility - 86 Finnell Drive (Units #15-19), Weymouth, MA 02188 (781) 337-8326 A Squad Stunt Camp - Aug. 20, 21, 22, & 23 A SQUAD: 5th - 8th grades August 28, 29, 30 9:00 11:00a B Squad Stunt Camp - Aug. 20 & 21 B SQUAD: 2nd - 4th grades August 28, 29, 30 9:00 11:00a Pre-season Practice Aug. 27, 28, 29, 30 Pre-season practice information, dates and times below are for both squads. Start date for pre-season practice for both squads is Monday, August 27th. Pre-season practices will run 2 times per day-both morning and evenings. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 8:45am -11am AND 5:30pm-7pm @ Lynch Field. During the first week of school we will have a full week of practices at Lynch Field, beginning on Tuesday, September 4th to Friday, September 7th from 5:30p -7p for both squads. On Friday, September 7th, both squads please plan to stay from 5:30p to 7:30p as we will have a short all squad and all coaches pre-season meeting at the end of practice. Beginning the week of September 10th, regular season practices begin and the squads will practice 2 days during the week, through early/ mid-october. Days and times TBD by coaches and will be made available as soon as possible but will most likely be Tuesdays & Thursdays from 5:30 to 7p for both A and B Squads. PLEASE NOTE: final schedules may change based on staff and facility availability. Tuesdays Stunt Practices will be held at the Hingham Recreation Center Gym and Thursday Cheer and Dance practices will be held at Lynch Field.

Dress Code Hair up in a high ponytail with no side/long bangs. All cheerleaders must wear a bow. Wide strap tank tops or t-shirts only, with a bra/sports bra if necessary. No spaghetti strap tank tops. Athletic shorts only. Please send your child in their practice uniforms (t shirts and shorts, socks and bows to all regular season practices.) Cheer sneakers only: no bare feet, flip flops, sandals, platform or slip on sneakers. If your child does not wear the proper cheer sneakers provided to them, they will not be permitted to stunt for safety reasons. Socks must be worn. For safety reasons, absolutely no jewelry is to be worn and hair MUST be tied back in high ponytail upon arrival. We do not have time to fix hair once practices or games have begun. Bring your own, labeled water bottle. Apply bug spray and/or sunblock before coming to outside practices and games. Use the restroom before coming to practice. Attendance Attendance is required to ensure the safety and success of all teams. Please see the Attendance Policy for more detailed information. Excessive absences will not be tolerated. Excessive tardiness will not be tolerated. Please be respectful of coaches and other cheerleaders. All games are mandatory. If there are circumstance which make an absence necessary coaches should be made aware of this the week prior so that stunt squads and dance positions can be adjusted prior to game day. Exceptions may be made for illness, family emergency, etc. Coaches must be notified prior to practices or games.

Behavior Cheerleading is meant to be a fun activity for everyone and this will best be achieved by each cheerleader arriving on time, with a fun, positive attitude, ready to learn and participate We want every cheerleader to start off the season with enthusiasm and excitement and to have the best possible experience. HYF Cheer and Dance is comprised of participants from a wide age group ranging from 2nd to 8th grade students and we need to be cognizant that our behavior, language and conduct is appropriate for all age groups. Every cheerleader is expected to be on their best behavior respecting all coaches, junior coaches, Board members, teammates, football players, opponents, fans, vendors and game day officials at all times. Any behavior considered inappropriate, disruptive, disrespectful and/or unsafe by the coaches will result in dismissal from the cheerleading program. We will be instituting a demerit system for the HYF Cheer and Dance Squads. Demerits will be given for excessive tardiness, not showing up in the correct uniform, not be prepared with hair up, cheer shoes on, not participating or listening, as well as inappropriate or disruptive behavior. Demerits will be accessed and given by head coaches only, but junior coaches can suggest demerits to head coaches if they deem necessary. If any cheerleader is given 5 demerits, they will receive a warning (in private) from a head coach. If any cheerleader receives 10 demerits (5 more after the warning), they will be sidelined from the next game. After 10 they are subject to further consequences of being removed from the squad. Bullying or harassment of any kind will not be tolerated. This includes in person as well as cyber-bullying (Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram, etc), phone calls and/or texting. Please see the Bully Prevention Policy. Games Our first game will most likely be the weekend of Sept. 9 (day, time and location TBA). HYF Cheer generally cheers for HOME games with a few away games based on final schedules. The younger girls squad will cheer for the Mites Football games. The older squad will cheer for Peewees & Midgets. Games are generally Sundays with a handful of Saturday night games. In years past there has always been a Playoff game, and one Super Bowl game (IF TEAMS QUALIFY). These games can run into November. Please plan schedules and commitments accordingly.

Attendance at all games is mandatory. Tardiness will not be tolerated. Transportation to all games is the responsibility of parents/guardians. Game schedules will be made available as soon as they are finalized by the football league. Captains During the August preseason practices, Head Coaches will be observing ALL cheerleaders for their enthusiasm, leadership skills, level of participation, teamwork and commitment to the squad and cheerleading. Based on these observations, they will make assessments for whom they deem qualified to lead the squads for the coming season. A Captain and Co-Captain will be appointed for both Squad A and Squad B. Responsibilities of Captains include being good role models, encouraging their squads, teaching new material that is provided to them by the coaches, leading ALL cheers, warm-ups and dance routines. Captains are put in place to help the practices run smoothly and time efficiently. They will be held to a very high standard and this promotion of delegation can be removed for any behavior deemed unacceptable by the coaches. Captains will be held accountable on the same demerit system as their fellow cheerleaders. Cheerleaders are expected to listen to the directions given to them by their captains. Practice & Game Day Uniforms SUPPLIED UNIFORM HYF Uniform Vest and skirt to be returned 2 Sparkle Poms to be returned Cheer Socks yours to keep Cheer shoes-yours to keep Hair Bow yours to keep Game Day Bag yours to keep (supplied to NEW cheerleaders only) Practice Shirt yours to keep Practice Shorts -yours to keep TO BE PURCHASED White Crop Turtle neck available online @ Omni Cheer or at local dance stores Black Boy-cut Briefs - available online @ Omni Cheer or at local dance stores

Black Leggings (Fitted not flared) for under skirt on cold days Target, Old Navy, The GAP, Dicks, etc. Personalized Warm up Jacket Order forms available during pre-season run around $35 - $40 based on number of orders Black gloves and Black fleece headband for cold weather games (Dollar Store, Target) Omni Cheer s website http://www.omnicheer.com/ Volunteer Opportunities HYF Cheer & Dance needs parent volunteers to sustain. We RELY on our parent volunteers to make each season fun and productive for our cheerleaders. Here are the immediate parent volunteer needs: o Assistant cheer coaches for both squads o o o o Parent volunteers to sign up for at least 1 game to help out on the sidelines Parent volunteers to stay at practices to help spot with stunting A parent volunteer for each squad to photograph and video the games A parent volunteer to help with social media management, i.e. advertise on social media, upload weekly game and practice information, post pictures and videos to social media Yet to be Announced Future Volunteer Opportunities Fall Practice Schedule to be confirmed Pep Rally Date and Details Game Day Schedule - TBD End of Year Party Date & Location List of Forms to be Reviewed, Signed & Returned **Please bring signed forms to parents night on May 31st 2018 HYF Cheer & Dance Information Sheet Medical Release Form Medical Information Sheet

Attendance Policy Bully Prevention Policy Photography and Social Media Release Parental Information Sheet (attached) All questions and concerns should be directed to Chez Coyle cchyfcheer@gmail.com (203) 822-4411 You may also reach out to: Brittany Morisette borissette3113@gmail.com or Rebecca Baker rebeccaannebaker@gmail.com

HYF CHEER & DANCE Information Sheet I,, have reviewed and understand the HYF 2018 Cheer and Dance Information Sheet. Parent s Name Child s Name Signature Date