Expert: James - 10/10/2008

Question
QUESTION: hey jim,
i have been cheering ever since i was 3 and did competitive cheering for 6
years. i am now a freshmen in high school and i am wanting to try out for a
university team. i was just wondering, i am a really tall person, roughly 5'7".
and I'm not for sure on if there is a height limit because i feel as if i would be
too tall. I'm pretty muscular too so i was just wondering what your say was on
that.

-Kara

ANSWER: I'll be as honest as I can. But it will be a long answer. Making a co-ed university team at your height would be difficult. Notice I said difficult, not impossible. First, you would have to find a program that didnt have a "limit", while it might not be official you're rarely going to find a girl who is not the true defintiion of TINY on squads like Kentucky, Louisville etc. Second you would have to have a really good flick toss as the longer a girls legs aer obviously the farther her partner has to toss he rto get under her feet and therew ould have to be a guy good enougho n the squad to do that. I cheered at a major division 1 university (though since we have both a nationally ranked footbal and basketball rpogram our cheer squad does not compete and focuses on athletics) and my partners over my 4 years were a wide range of heights. From 4'11 to 5'6 and in between. I actually saw a girl who had to be no shorter than 5'10 on one universities coed squad. However I did find out that her and her partner were engaged and 1). he was amazing and 2). they practiced non-stop so they stutned great together....now all that being said alot of universities have all-girls teams. I know for example Louisville (where i did some training with their girls prior to cheering at my university) has a nationally respected all-girls squad that cheers some events and competes. If you are muscular as you say and can tumble, then at a university that has one i'm sure you'd have no trouble competing for a spot on an all-girls squad. Hope that answered your question.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: thanksss that helps a lot. i mean i've been working on my tumbling and am
planning on having my running layout & triple toe back by tryouts. but what i'd
like to ask is what's the best way to practice for flick tosses and stunting?


Answer
To do them, i mean really there are is no substitution for actually stunting. And typically (even though we are outnumbered) its easier for you ladies to find guys to stunt with than vice versa. When I needed girls to stunt with I tried everything. I went to local all-star gyms and asked coaches if they had any girls who would be willing to stunt with a new guy and (im not ashamed to admit it) paid some girls for private lessons. I also e-mailed a few universities coaches (you might have to tell a little fib and say youre interested in trying out there whether you actually are or not..lol) to see if they have open practices. Some do, some don't. For instance in my case West Virginia University would not allow it. But Marshall University, Louisville, and Morehead State did so I got in free practice there. Lastly in my experience alot of local high school kids would pay the tiny fee (if you're not a university student) to workout at our rec center. And on alot of occasions either by seeing us stunting or asking around or seeing us wearing cheer shirts would come up and ask us guys if we could teach them some partner stunting. Just to cover our own rears we always made them get something signed by a parent and (if it was an inconvenient time mighta charged them $10 for some gas money) but i don't ever remember a girl actually getting turned down flat out. So there are plenty of opportunities. You just have to look for them.