Expert: Chris - 4/24/2010

Question
hey, i'm 18 and ive always wanted to be a cheerleader but never persued it.
i was only a cheerleader once but didnt do tumbling, only a little bit of stunts but that was a really long time ago.
i just want to know if it's to late to be a cheerleader.
and could i do college cheerleading after i practice really hard at a rec team, or could i even do a rec team?
because everywhere i look they have age limits and experience levels.
and i dont want to look like a complete idiot if i start now.
can you help?

Answer
I'm not familiar with rec teams-maybe they're just called something different in my area. But most colleges have a tumbling requirement for their cheer squad. Tumbling can be tough to learn so that should be your first focus.

If you want to join an all-star gym they can almost always find a place for you. It can be expensive and it's completely focused on competing, but I know I enjoy it. There was a girl on my team this season that had never cheered or tumbled before and she learned it!

In my opinion it's never too late to be a cheerleader. If it was there wouldn't be many left. In the past few years cheerleading has really gotten more popular so there are more people joining at an older age. Like I said, tumbling is a problem for a lot of people. The good news is that at every all-star cheer or gymnastics gym there are ways to learn. They all offer group and private lessons. You can schedule a private lesson at any time with any instructor (who's available obviously), and they work one on one with you to help you learn. They're usually a half hour long while group classes are about an hour.

As a coach it can be challenging to have a new cheerleader. I coach younger kids, so it's very different, but I do love the fact that they have no bad habits yet. If you start cheering you'll notice that a lot of little, seemingly stupid things like finger placement are important. It's easy to get into bad habits if your coach never told you you were doing it wrong. I've gotten SO many kids with bad habits. It's almost inevitable with any cheerleader. But a new cheerleader is like a blank slate for a coach. Sometimes they turn out to be the best cheerleaders if they're willing to learn and work hard, which it seems like you are. If you're already taking the initiative to look at rec teams and other options you're really going in the right direction.

I wish I could help more with the idea of a rec team, but I'm not sure what that is. They may not offer them in my area. I live in a really small town so all-star gyms and Pop Warner are the only teams around besides a high school squad. Or maybe my area does offer rec teams and we just call them something different.

Overall, if you're dedicated and willing to work it's not too late to start cheering. I'm not sure if you could make a college squad because of tumbling requirements. Obviously you still have time to learn those skills though, and I don't know the exact requirements of the school you're looking into cheering for. It's hard to judge without seeing you or knowing you either, but I can tell you that cheerleading is 90% work and 10% natural talent. If you want it badly enough, you can get it.

Let me know if there is anything else that I can help you with. I wish you the best of luck with choosing a team. If you want to look on youtube at all-star teams you could see what it's all about. That's just one more suggestion. Keep me posted too!