Coaches use Twitter to Recruit

College cheerleading coaches are currently “tweeting” about their programs to showcase both their personality and their recruiting message. My advice for recruits who are currently using or are thinking about using Twitter is to make sure they keep their updates very professional, and be willing to share their updates with any college coach who is on Twitter.

What to include on your recruiting video

Skills Tape
A critical part of recruiting for college coaches is the evaluation process. Simply put, if college coaches do not believe a student athlete possesses the ability to play for their school, they are not going to spend their recruiting resources pursuing that student athlete. In most cases, college coaches have two choices when attempting to evaluate a student athlete. They can either watch a student athlete compete in person or they can accomplish a similar evaluation by watching a highlight or skills tape. It is critical to send college coaches a tape of your skills, or you can upload them to a website, such as Youtube. I ask for the following to be included on a video tape from interested cheerleaders:

Tumbling Skills: Standing Backhandspring, Standing back tuck, standing backhandspring back tuck and a tumbling pass

Stunting Skills: Please include extended stunts, transitions and dismounts (preferably twist dismounts)

Cheer: include a cheer demonstrating sharp motions and voice inflections, and preferably with a jump.

Dance/Fight Song: Dance and/or fight song should demonstrate coordination, rhythm, voice inflection and spirited attitude.

"Failures are expected by losers, ignored by winners."

– Joe Gibbs

What defines success?

What defines success?

Is it the 2 min 30 sec routine at Nationals? Is it having the highest team GPA? Is it not having any members leave during the season and forming a tight team bond?

On my college team, I define a successful season as one where my girls grew as a team – in the areas of responsibility, leadership, communication, academics, self-discovery and self-confidence.

Success in the classroom is crucial. I remind my team that they are students before athletes. How did they compare to the other athletic teams at the university?

Success on the competition floor brings recognition to the university and a feeling of team accomplishment. As long as the team improved over the previous year's placement, they should feel successful as a competitor.

Success in the community can be measured not by the quantity of community service events in which the team participated, but what was taken away by the team. At the Boys & Girls Club, did a little boy's face light up after a squad member read his favorite book for the 4^th time in a row? At the women's shelter, did the homeless woman's barely audible "thank you" hit the heart of a team member? Community service events expose your team members to situations and experiences they may never have seen otherwise – they are a win-win situation for both the team and the organization for which your team is volunteering.

Personal success can be measured by the amount of individual growth experienced by each team member. Did they make better decisions, take charge of a situation, improve athletically, and tolerate team members' differences?

Success within the team can be measured by the amount of fun they had. At the end of the year, I put together a video of still photos from the beginning of the year to the end, including all events, games, projects, team bonding socials, etc… Were the team members smiling and laughing and having a good time in the photos? If so, you can believe their overall season was enjoyable.

This past year, we overcame a team member who failed a random drug test (she took a friend's ADHD medicine to help her "focus" on studying for midterms) 2 unplanned pregnancies, a questionably faked injury one day before Nationals (was she embarrassed that this team wasn't as good as her previous school's team?), a death of a parent, and several other obstacles. But the key word here is overcame. The team grew as a team and as individuals. They worked hard on and off the mat, and were proud of their performances on the court and at competition. New friendships were made and lifetime bods were formed. Yes – I'd say the season was a success.

Cheering in college

Cheering in college

Pretty much all colleges and universities have cheerleaders, whether or not the school competes. First and foremost, you have to decide why you want to cheer in college. Do you want to cheer, just to compete? If that is the case, cheering in college might not be the right choice for you. Being a cheerleader on a college team is completely different than cheering on a high school or all star team. In addition to regular practices, you most likely have team conditioning and training practices, as well as appearances and events. The commitment is much higher once you get to cheering at the college level. You have to commit to supporting intercollegiate athletics – that means cheering on your team at all games. College athletes are much more focused on their sport at the college level, and as a cheerleader, you need to make the same commitment as these other student-athletes.

Cheering at D II

Earlier last year, the NCAA launched the "I chose Division II" campaign. The campaign uses a hexagon for its framework, six "sides" of a DII student athlete — Passion, Balance, Resourcefulness, Service, Learning and Sportsmanship.

 

At NSU, many student-athletes were recruited by Division I schools, but they ultimately chose DII NSU because they can still play their sport, but can also be a common student.

 

A significant percentage of high school student athletes would love to cheer at a DI school. Plus, with college-athletic specific networks such as ESPNU, CSTV and the Big Ten Network showing college sports around the clock, our obsession with DI sports is greater than it has ever been.

 

As a result, DII always has been looked upon as a "back-up."

 

Some student-athletes choose a DII school because they did not receive any DI offers, but they still want to continue cheering.

 

And there's nothing wrong with that. It's better to cheer at a lower division than not cheer at all. But here's the thing — for some high school student athletes, DII is not the last resort.

 

Along with cheering at a Division I university comes high expectations, a huge time commitment, and a lot of pressure from alumni, faculty and fellow students.

No, Division II sports aren't the last option. For a lot of people, it's the first.

 

What do college coaches look for?

What do college coaches seek in high school cheerleaders?

If a cheerleader is talented, a college coach will find them. If they are good enough, there will be many coaches on all levels who want some of their attention.

But talent only is one element in the equation. An athlete's makeup, character and interpersonal relationships with teammates, parents and coaches speak volumes.

And there is one thing that stands out above all else.

If you're a lazy student, then why would anyone want to take you as a player? There is no reason for you not to work hard and work smart. You have to ask if you're a leader or a follower. There are plenty of followers in the classroom.

There are certain steps each player must take to be qualified to cheer at the college level. They include graduating high school, taking core courses in math, science and English, and earning strong ACT and SAT scores.

Some cheerleaders feel it is important to visit colleges during their Junior year, but don't take them unless you're serious about the school. Don't waste your time, your parents' time and the school's.

Another avenue is for athletes to scope out rosters on the Web and project who may be there to see if there is a spot for them.

A player must find the right fit.

College coaches know that lazy students make for lazy cheerleaders. Off-the-field stuff matters. I'll do my homework. I'll talk to as many people as I can to find out what kind of a person the cheerleader is.

I'll show up to their high school practice. I'll see who was the first out of their car, who was the last in after practice.

Cheering in college is the best for teaching resiliency. It's not going to be easy.