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!

Prepping Your Cheer Team for Sideline Cheer During Practice

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. 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: Coordinating Hair Style, Cheer Uniform, and Accessories

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. A clean, slick back pony tail with a cheer bow is a classic, polished, and cohesive look. Be sure the hairstyles are inclusive for all members.

Step 4: Print and Laminate the Cheer List

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. Organize our cheer list by General Cheers, Offense Cheers, Defense Cheers, Chants, Band/Sideline Dances.

Practice Game Day

Go to your school’s football field and have a 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!

While it may seem unnecessary to rehearse every detail, these run-throughs help identify issues before the first game and allow the team to feel more prepared and confident.

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.

Keep the Sideline Tidy

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.

Football Tunnel & Run Through Banner

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.

Practice Where to Lineup & How to Lineup on the Sidelines

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.

First Cheer of the 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.

Cheers for Announcing 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 & Respond to 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.

Kick Off Cheers

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.

Sideline Cheers

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.

Successful sidelines don’t happen by accident. Organized preparation helps cheerleaders feel confident, engaged, and ready to lead school spirit throughout the game. When athletes know what to expect and feel prepared for every moment, game days become more fun, energetic, and successful for everyone involved.

Most importantly, keep the sidelines positive, spirited, and fun. Variety, energy, and teamwork are what keep both the crowd and cheerleaders engaged all season long.

You’ve got this, Coach!