Sideline Cheer Coaching Tips
High school cheerleaders spend most of their time at football games on the sidelines. Prepare your sideline cheer team to feel confident as they perform cheers, stunts, dances, and jumps on the sidelines. High School cheerleaders should be present during the entire football game. Cheerleaders should be on the sidelines before the coin toss.
Prepping Your Cheer Team for Sideline Cheer During Practice
- Step 1: Practice the Cheers
- Step 2: Practice Sideline Cheer Stunts
- Step 3: Plan Coordinating Cheer Uniforms & Hair Style
- Step 4: Print and laminate a cheer list for captains
Step 1: Practice the Cheers
Practice the sideline cheers so that your cheer team feels confident to perform them on the sidelines on game day. Pro Tip: take videos of each sideline cheer and share the videos with your cheer team so they can practice them outside of practice.
Step 2: Practice Sideline Cheer Stunts
Plan for crowd effective stunts on for your sideline cheer team to perform throughout the game on the sidelines. Incorporate stunts into some of the sideline cheers to add variety! Plan stunt sequences or elite stunts for your cheer team to perform during quarter breaks or pregame. Be sure to check the surface that your cheer team will stunt on during the game on the sidelines to make sure it is safe to stunt on.
Step 3: Plan Coordinating Cheer Uniforms & Hair Style
The cheer team will look more professional and polished if they match. Matching makes a positive first impression that says we are professional and united.
Cheerleaders should wear their hair in a way that is safe for what they are doing. On our team, we have cheerleaders wear their hair in a ponytail with a bow. As the trends change, we ask the team how they like to wear their hair. A few years ago, they loved to wear their hair in low ponytails while years before that it was all about the high pony. We create more buy in for the cheerleaders to wear their hair in matching styles when they get a say in how their hair is worn. Be sure the hairstyles are inclusive for all members.
Step 4: Print and laminate a cheer list for captains
Create an organized sideline cheer list for your cheer captains to quickly reference throughout the game. Laminate the cheer list so that it lasts rain or shine. We organize our cheer list by General Cheers, Offense Cheers, Defense Cheers, Chants, Band/Sideline Dances.
Prepping Your Cheer Team for Sideline Cheer with a Game Day Run Through
Go to your school’s football field and have a mock football game day for the sideline cheer team! This will help you and the cheer team feel more prepared and confident for a true game day setting. Doing a mock football game day run through for sideline cheer will help you to identify any hiccups so you can fix them before the game!
It might sound silly to run through all of these details, but ironing out all of these details will help everyone feel more prepared before the first football game.
What to practice during the Mock Football Game Day Run Through
- Walking to the Football Field
- Where to place cheer backpacks
- Tunnel run through for football team
- Where/how to lineup for sideline cheer
- Welcome Cheer during Pre-Game
- Football captains
- National anthem
- How to call cheers
- Kickoff cheer
- Sidelines
- Touchdown Celebration
- Timeouts/Quarter Breaks
- Band Dances/Sideline Dances
- Sideline Stunts/Pyramids
- Halftime
- End of Game
Walking to the Football Field
How will your cheer team walk to the football field? Will they all meet in one area before the game? Our team warms up their stunts and routines before the game then we walk to the field together. They link arms and chant while they walk in front of the crowd.
Where to place cheer backpacks
Where will cheerleaders put their cheer backpacks? Where should they place their water bottles? Choose a spot where cheerleaders can place their bags that are out of sight of the stands. Our team places their backpacks off to the side of the track and close to the fence. They keep their water bottles near them on the sidelines either in front of them or lined up against the fence.
Tunnel run through for football team
The football team will usually run onto the field before the game. Practice having the cheer team line up on either side of the tunnel to cheer as the football team runs through.
Where/how to lineup for sideline cheer
Place the cheer team into their sideline cheer lineup before the game. This should be done at a practice so that the team knows where to stand. Practice where they will line up on the sidelines during the mock football game day run through.
Welcome Cheer during Pre-Game
Arrive before the game begins! Do not miss the national anthem, tunnel, and announcements of the football captains. Cheerleaders should be present for the entire game. Our team lines up with 10:00 minutes on the clock counting down to the start of the game. They perform a cheer or stunts before the game begins.
Football captains
The football team captains will walk to the center of the field for the coin toss. The announcer will announce the names of the captains on the home team and opposing team. Cheerleaders should cheer loudly for the captains of the game.
National anthem
Practice how cheerleaders will stand during the national anthem during the mock game day run through. Our cheerleaders stand with one foot popped, left arm behind their back, and right hand on their heart for the national anthem. They raise their left arm and shake their pom during ‘Land of the Free’ then raise their right arm and shake both poms on ‘Home of the Brave’ through the end of the song.
How to call cheers
How will your cheer team call and respond to cheers? Our cheer team stands facing the field throughout the football game with their arms behind their back holding their poms. The captains will turn first to call the cheer then the cheer team will turn by placing their right foot behind their left foot and turning over their right shoulder to face the crowd.
Kickoff cheer
Right after the national anthem comes the kickoff. During the mock game day run through, have your captains practice calling a kickoff cheer right after the national anthem.
Sidelines
Practice ALL sideline cheers, chants, and stunts during the mock game day run through.
Touchdown Celebration
Does your cheer team do a touchdown celebration? It could be a band dance, a cheer, or a tradition that your school does every time their is a touchdown. Practice it during the mock game day run through.
Timeouts/Quarter Breaks
Practice longer cheers or stunt sequences for cheerleaders to perform during quarter breaks and timeouts. Before the game begins, have a plan of what your cheer team will perform during each quarter break and timeouts. There can be up to six timeouts per half. Most timeouts seem to occur at the end of the second quarter and the end of the fourth quarter.
Quarter break cheers and stunts can be longer while timeout cheers and stunts should be short and called quickly. Have captains choose what they plan to call for the timeouts so that when a timeout is called, they are ready to go.
Band Dances/Sideline Dances
Band dances and sideline dances are a fun way to add variety to the sidelines! Have your team practice band dances and sideline dances by playing the music in random order so that they are prepared to quickly begin the dance when they hear the music during game days.
Sideline Stunts/Pyramids
If your team performs sideline stunts and pyramids, be sure to spend time practicing these stunts. Another tip is have the cheer team practice transitioning from their sideline lineup to their stunt lineup quickly.
Halftime
Have your team practice performing their halftime routine to prepare for halftime.
End of Game
Does your school have an end of game tradition? Our cheer team calls a specific cheer at the end of each game.
Additional tips for Football Game Days
- Keep backpacks/belongings out of sight
- Be engaged in the game
- Use poms often
- The crowd can hear & see more than you think, do not congregate and gossip on the sidelines
Cheering on the sidelines should be fun and have variety to keep the crowd excited and the cheerleaders engaged in the football game! Cheerleaders spend most of their time on the sidelines, so it is important that they feel prepared and confident. If you have any questions, feel free to email me [email protected].
You got this, Coach!