Over the past 32+ years of coaching thousands of cheerleaders, there several things that are completely “normal” for all cheerleaders and teams to go through.  One of the most common is for the athletes to be nervous and anxious before a competition or event.  Here are some of the top tips to help ease the anxiety and make your event more fun!

1. Breathe!  I know it sounds simple, but so many cheerleaders forget to breathe while they are performing.  Also, when they are off stage, waiting to go on, remind your team to breathe and just relax and enjoy the moment.
2. Remind your team that this is FUN!!! Tell them to take it all in and just to enjoy the moment and have fun!
3. Go to the bathroom before you are in the staging area. I find that so many girls all of a sudden have to go to the bathroom just before going on due to being nervous.  If they go to the bathroom before getting in line, it absolutely helps!
4. Remind yourself to Be Proud of all that you have done to get ready for this moment and know that you are ready to do your best.
5. SMILE!!! Smile big for 30 seconds to improve your mood and to help you relax.
6. Do a “Wonder Woman” pose for about 30 seconds to make your feel more confident instantly.
7. Visualize you doing your routine, enjoying the experience and doing your best.
8. Remember, you are not alone! You have an entire team with you and you are all in this together.
9. Have a list of 5 to 10 positive affirmations that you can say before you perform to get you in the right mindset. Here are a few that we use: 

• I GOT THIS
• I am PROUD of ME and I am AWESOME!
• This is SO MUCH FUN and I am so excited!
• Everyone is going to love our routine and support us!

Do you have some tips that you use to reduce stress before your event?  We would love to hear them!

Would you LOVE an Easy and FUN tool that you can use with your cheerleaders to motivate them?  Here is our #1 cheerleading tool that we have been using since 1994 and I PROMISE it works and your cheerleaders will LOVE it!

Check out all of the details in the above video and get your FREE Download so you can start using it TODAY HERE!

Let us know how it goes 🙂

Are you a Cheerleading Coach looking for some great ideas and games to improve and motivate your team? Team building activities are a MUST for ALL teams to help improve the relationships between your team members.

So when should you incorporate a team building activity? A good rule of thumb is to try and do 1 small 5 minute game each practice to encourage teammates that don’t normally talk to interact and to do a large, out of practice, team building activity at least once per month. Here are some ideas to start with:

Make a New Friend Game

Have 2 cheerleaders sit together that do not normally talk and have them find ourt3 things that they have in common. Once you give the team 5 minutes for this activity, have the 2 cheerleaders stand up and introduce each other to the team and reveal what they have in common.

Compliment Game

Have your team sit in a circle. Each athlete stands up and gives a compliment to the person next to them. This is a great way to build trust and confidence!

Get to Know You Game

Have 2 athletes stand next to each other. Give them 1 minute to notice EVERYTHING about each other. Then, have them stand back to back and then ask them some questions about their teammate like: What is their eye color, hair color, shoe lace color, what are they wearing, are they wearing jewelry, etc.

Back to Back

Girls must find a partner of close height, lock arms back to back, and sit on the ground with their legs straight out and try to stand back up. See which pair gets up the quickest.

The Human Knot

The team stands in a circle and everyone reaches out both hands and grabs someone else’s hands. The goal is to get the knot untangled without releasing anyone’s hands.

For a TON of Team Building activities that you can do with your team, check out our Cheerleading Team Building Ebook HERE!

Have FUN 🙂