Cheerleading Safety - Stay Safe While Cheerleading

Cheerleading has gone from an eye-candy sport for football players and sports jocks to an all out gymnastic type routine. Cheerleaders are now asked to perform highflying stunts that reach heights nearing twenty feet…sometimes more! With cheerleading injuries accounting for 55 to 65 percent of sports related injuries, safety is a concern for parents and spectators alike. Below are some tips you may find helpful when it comes to the safety of our cheerleaders:

1. Is our coach AACCA certified through the American Association of Cheerleading Coaches and Administrators safety course and has our school conducted the appropriate background checks?

The American Association of Cheerleading Coaches and Administrators is the largest not-for-profit educational organization for cheerleading coaches. AACCA operates as an independent organization since it’s founding by Varsity Spirit Corporation. AACCA certification features safety awareness training with a safety test administered at the end of the training session. The AACCA Safety Course is required for all NCAA cheerleading coaches, and by school districts and states around the country. It should be required for yours.

2. Does our coach adhere to accepted practice and performance guidelines?

AACCA practice guidelines require direct supervision by a coach with practices held in a location suitable for the activities of cheerleaders (i.e., use of appropriate mats, away from excessive noise and distractions, etc.) Most states require adherence to the skill restrictions put in place by the National Federation of High Schools. Your program should be following these rules and procedures, which include restrictions on skills such as basket toss flips and pyramids, which involve more than two persons high.


3. Does our coach ensure that performance skills are taught in the proper sequence using skills progression training, with an emphasis on training all squad members in proper spotting methods?

Skills progression training ensures that cheerleaders build upon mastered technique when learning more difficult and advanced stunts or tumbling, i.e. cartwheel to round-off to back-hand spring. Spotters are responsible for assisting or catching the top person in a stunt with a priority to protect the head, neck, and shoulders of the top person coming off of a stunt.

4. Does my child’s coach properly balance practice time between athletic training and spirit leadership instruction?

Cheerleading is an activity that builds self-confidence, leadership and communication skills and involves more than stunts and tumbling. Safety begins with leadership. Instilling these qualities in cheerleaders helps prevent accidents when all squad members hold safety as a priority. The stunts and tumbling involved in cheerleading should aid the cheerleader in generating excitement and participation by the fans. Performing difficult stunts only for the sake of athleticism should be avoided at games and reserved for competition venues with professional spotters and mats.

5. Does our squad have an emergency plan in place?

A comprehensive emergency plan is necessary to provide a quick and effective response to an emergency situation with specific duties assigned to all responders. A sample emergency plan can be found at http://www.aacca.org/content.aspx?item=Resources/EmergencyPlan.xml.

Cheerleading Apparel - Keeping It Warm! Cold Weather Fashion

It was all about keeping warm at this year's Birch Run Santa’s Championship Competition. With the weather so cold these next couple of months, squads are looking to keep warm in style. I decided to put together a list of my favorite fashions to keep warm this winter:

Olympian Warm-Up Set
One style from Birch Run that I recognized right away was the Charles River Olympian Jacket & Pant. This warm-up was worn by a cheer gym and customized with bright neon green tackle twill lettering that really stood out. I didn’t get a pic but here is what the warm-up looks like. So you can just imagine the possibilities with your team colors.


Endurance Warm-Up Set
Second on the list is a warm-up set that is a cheer teams must have whether you're a competitive, high school, or youth squad. This would the most economical choice. This is a very traditional unisex solid warm-up that comes in black, red, dark green, navy, dark maroon, and royal. It can easily be worn over your uniform with sizes ranging from youth small to adult extra large, so this $19.99/piece warm-up is great for any team on a budget. These warm-ups are also in-stock as well so if you need them quickly this should be your first choice for cold weather fashion.

Verve Warm-Up Set
Next up is the new Verve Warm-Ups set from Don Alleson available May 1st through yours truly. This set is great for girls wanting a more fitted look. Comes in black/white, red/white, dark green/white, scarlet/white, royal/white, navy/white, purple/white. and pink/white. This jacket can be worn over any cheerleading shell or bodyliner. Wearing the pants over your skirt is optional depending on how form fitting the skirt style is. What I like best about this style is the band along the pants backside area that can be lettered or embroidered with your team name. Letter the front of the jacket as well to have that whole “make an entrance, leave an impression” statement to all the other teams and fans.



Custom Uniform Warm-Ups Set
With these warm-ups you can mix match 10 different style jackets with any one of seven style custom pants. What’s great about these warm-ups is that they can be completely customized. You can match your uniforms color, striping, and lettering. Make sure to order these at the same time you order uniforms because due to the customization they will take approximately 8 weeks to produce. The wait is well worth what you’ll get in the end. The best part about these warm-ups is that they are available on our Custom Uniform Creator for you to edit and try out different looks. You can order just the warm-up or pair it up with a uniform. Get your whole team to create a look and then vote to see whose creation will be used for your team look this year. Cheer Coaches…this is a great way to take a little of the ordering stress off your shoulders and make it a fun team oriented activity.


Trendy Winter Accessories
Accessories such as fleece head warmers and spirit beanies are always in fashion, but this year we noticed a lot of girls wearing leg warmers and arm warmers to accent their team uniform colors. I made a short list of product images below that we like best. Some we carry some we hope to carry. Take a look and let us know which accessories you like best.






Head Warmers
































Arm Warmers





























Leg Warmers

Tights…a little on the whacky side, but sooooo cute!

Check out cheerzone.com for more great finds for keeping warm this season!

Cheerleading Fitness - Work Those Abs!

So we know that cheerleading is getting harder and harder by the day. Our fans are expecting us to perform the best stunts with the highest tosses, all while maintaining the perfect toe touch. Keeping in tip top shape is more important than ever. Here are my suggestions on keeping your core strong!

Tires: Along with all traditional crunches you must do core workouts using your legs. Try taking some ideas straight from the football field. Excellent for abs, even if you don’t not have tires get those legs up in the air. Check out the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders abs. They must be doing something right!

Leg Lifts: Lay on the ground with your legs straight out in front of you. Try to lie in front of something you can grab onto, for instance, a bedpost. Lift your legs to a 90-degree angle and then lower them down until they almost touch the ground, and then repeat. Begin with 20 per session and work your way up.

Partner Leg Lifts: Have one person lay straight on the ground with their legs out in front of them. The other person will stand just above the head of their partner. The person on the ground will grab onto the ankles of their partner and lift his/her legs to a 90-degree angle. The partner standing up will push their partner's legs down as hard as they can. You want to try to push their legs all the way to the ground. The person on the ground will resist and try to stop their legs before they hit the ground. They will then bring their legs back up and the process will happen again. This exercise works your lower abdominal muscles. Whether your working your abs alone or with the entire squad you’ll see amazing results in just two weeks. Your stunts will be stronger, your jumps will be higher and you’ll be rockin’ in your cheerleading uniform!


Sit-ups: Strong stomachs are very important in cheerleading. A strong stomach allows for better jumps, it helps in better stunting and pyramids, as well as in gymnastics.

Regular Crunches: These are great sit-ups to get you going. Your legs should be bent, your chin should be facing the ceiling, and you should sit-up so your shoulder blades are slightly off the ground, keeping your stomach tight. Begin with about 25 sit ups per session and work your way up to 100.

Side Crunches: All the same rules apply with the regular crunches, only your legs are bent and leaning over to one side. Do your crunches normally, keeping your shoulders slightly off the ground. Again, begin with about 25 per session on each side and work your way up.


-A great exercise is to do the crunches in a combination of regular crunches and side crunches. Begin with regular crunches, move your legs to the side and do some side crunches, move your legs back to the middle for some more regular crunches, and then move them to the other side for some more side crunches.

- A fun way to do sit-ups as a squad is to do it to music. One eight count of crunches to the middle, the next eight count to the side, back to the middle for another eight count and so on!

Toe Touch/Pike Sit-ups: This is a great exercise to help with your toe touches! Begin by lying down with your legs straight and your arms above your head. In one quick and sharp motion bring your legs and body up into a toe touch position. Quickly snap your legs back together and return to the lying position on the floor. You may also want to increase the difficulty level by doing the same exercise only in a pike position. For a great ab workout so about three sets of 10.


Go to cheerzone.com and check out our fitness supplies, music and videos!