Hey Coaches - Tryout Season is just around the corner!

There are many different ways to run an effective tryout. A tryout done at one school may not be the best fit for your school. The best way to figure out what is the best for your school is by talking to your administration and/or principal and together deciding which way is right for your school!

Here are some tips to get ready for your tryout.

• Make sure you have signs posted around school with all of the information.
• Make morning announcements over the P.A. system.
• When making your signs and announcements, spell out what the requirements are. For example, anyone trying out must be a student athlete and must have an adequate grade point average.
• Create the Judges Sheet. This is an important part of your tryout process. This determines what you think is the most important part of your cheer squad. Your score sheet should reflect the types of squad you and your school wants. Example: If your squad does a lot of community work and you don’t compete or perform much, then the skills section wouldn’t have as much weight. Where interview skills, cheer skills, teacher recommendations would have a higher weight.
• Decide who your judges are going to be and let them know in advance so they can mark their calendars. And remember the key to a successful tryout is selecting your team selected by qualified judges.
• Make sure you stay in touch with the teachers. They will be the ones providing information on the cheerleaders’ grades and behavior.

On the UCA website, under the coach’s button, you will see a drop down called ‘Tryout Info.’ Here you will find many more tools to help you out with your tryout. You’ll find notes on how to conduct the pre-tryout meeting, helpful hints on how to run the pre-tryout clinic and three different examples of score sheets.

Also on this page is how to run your tryouts, all of the important forms you’ll need and tips on how to pick out the best type of camp for your squad.