Cheer Camp Tips for Coaches
Cheer camp is one of the most important events of your cheerleading season! Here are some of my top cheer camp tips for coaches heading to cheer camp with your cheer team.
Plan Team Bonding
Cheer Camp is a great time for your cheer team to bond because of the positive energy already surrounding you all at camp. Capitalize on that positive momentum and plan bonding activities for your cheer team. Cheer Camp is busy so I recommend planning the games ahead of time and choosing games with minimal materials. Check out my post here for Cheer Camp Bonding Ideas.
Prepare Lineups & Stunt Groups Ahead of Time
At cheer camp, you will learn cheers, sidelines, dances, stunts, and pyramids. Plan out your lineups and stunt groups ahead of time so that your team is ready to work on the new material. If you spend time at cheer camp placing cheerleaders into lineups or trying out different stunt groups, you may lose time to work on new skills.
Plan out a cheer lineup and dance lineup ahead of time and place your cheerleaders into their spots in these lineups at practice before you head to cheer camp. Ensure that you and your team remember these lineups by writing them down or taking a photo for a quick reference at cheer camp.
Before heading to cheer camp, spend time at practice determining the stunt groups that your cheerleaders will be in during camp. Place your cheerleaders into those positions and stunt groups at practice and tell them that those are their groups for camp. On that first day you will jump right into stunt class. Planning the stunt groups ahead of time will save you time and allow your cheer team to start building new skills right away.
An extra tip is to place your cheerleaders into their cheer and dance lineups based on spots near to their stunt groups. That way, the cheerleaders can easily transition from stunts to lineups.
Prep Your Team Before Camp
During your cheer practices leading up to cheer camp, sit with your team and talk them through what to expect at camp! Some of your athletes haven’t traveled away from their families for days at a time. Some of your cheerleaders have never been to a college campus (if that where your camp is hosted).
In the weeks leading up to cheer camp, review the packing list. Don’t forget to tell them to bring bedding, towels, and shower shoes if they will be in a dorm! Prep them for the long days. Hydrate, sunscreen, good attitudes!
Assign Tasks to Cheerleaders
Your cheerleaders will learn dances, cheers, and sidelines at camp. To help your cheer squad remember the material, choose 3 to 5 cheerleaders to be in charge of memorizing one routine each.
For example, have one of your cheer captains learn and remember the main cheer camp dance. Assign another cheer captain to learn and remember the main camp cheer. Then go down the list of cheerleaders who you can rely on and assign them material to remember. When it comes time to practice the material with your team at cheer camp, having one person who is an expert at that dance will be helpful!
This empowers your cheerleaders to take on the responsibility of the material while taking one more thing off of your plate. Take videos of the material as often as you can to refer back to while reviewing.
Extra Practice at Camp
Cheer Camp is busy and your cheer team is learning a lot of material. Spend an extra 30 minutes each day reviewing the material. You can squeeze in the extra time after breakfast, before or after lunch, and at the end of the day before heading back to the dorms.
For example, sometimes teams are dismissed in intervals for meals. For example, Group A will be released at 5:00 while Group B will be released at 5:20. If your team is in Group B, use those extra 20 minutes to quickly review dances or cheers they learned.
Have Fun!
Cheer Camp is ultimately to have fun! Get to know your cheer team, enjoy your time with them. These memories will genuinely last a lifetime for them, and for you!
