Expert: Pamela Enders - 3/26/2009

Question
heyy, im jacqueline. im 14 and until now i have been a competitive gymnast. i can do like layouts and sometimes fulls. i just recently quit gymnastics, but next year im going to highschool, and i was wondering if you think i could be a cheerleader. ive been told im a good dancer, but i have never been in dance class. im not the most hyper cheerleader type person, but i love to preform and i think cheerleading would be fun.

do you think i have a chance of making the cheerleading team? whatelse do you need besides tumbling? i am light for my age, so i guess i could b thrown in the air easily.

thankyou, jacqueline

Answer
Dear Jacqueline,

In some ways I'm not qualified to answer this question.  I can respond to it but you might also want to ask one of the other cheerleading experts.  You see, I'm an expert on the mental game of cheerleading and not the technical side.

That said, I would offer the following suggestions: Find out who the coach is for the cheer team at the high school you will be attending and make an appointment to meet with him or her.  (This will show you are mature and proactive and the coach will like that.) Then, attend the appointment with a notebook (this will make you look organized and committed and coaches like that, too!) and come prepared with questions.  The questions can be similar to what you asked me.  You need to find out if your skills are what the coach might be looking for.  Many coaches like tumbling skills so you will be ahead of the game there.

If you've been a competitive gymnast and you like to perform, you already have some qualities that a cheer coach would like.  But I think you just need to find out more about what cheerleading is all about.  You might want to check out some books on cheerleading and also some videos.  Or check out my blog - www.confidentcheerleadingblog.com. Like gymnastics, cheerleading requires time, energy, and dedication.

The most important thing for you to do now is to get more information from a reliable source and that would be the coach.

Good luck to you!

Cheers!

Pamela