Cheer tryouts

Yesterday, I got an unexpected opportunity to judge high school cheer tryouts. I used to do this all the time back in the day, but stopped about 5 years ago due to my work schedule. I am completely disconnected from the cheerleading world now and for those of you who know me, that is a big deal. I cheered from 5th grade til my junior year in college but now I am lucky if I get to see cheerleading on TV! It makes me sad, so when I saw a friend of mine needed a last minute judge for her tryouts, I jumped at the chance.

If you've ever tried out for cheerleader or known someone who has, you know it's absolutely one of the most intimidating things ever. Not only do you have to perform a cheer and a dance in front of judges, you also have to show spirit and not make a fool of yourself. Showing spirit means getting the crowd excited and on their feet. It's easy to do at a football or basketball game, but when you're trying out in front of 5 judges who aren't allowed to yell along with you, and there's nobody else allowed in the gym, you're basically yelling to the stands full of non-existent people. How awkward!

When judging tryouts, you have to be as professional as possible. By no means is it acceptable to laugh at a girl and more than half the time that's dang near impossible. I mean, you're putting a girl or boy in an incredibly awkward situation and you're just sitting there watching them. Things are bound to go wrong...and that's when the hilarity ensues. I've had friends judge tryouts where a girl goes for her running tumbling pass and literally tumbles into/on top of the judges' table! How do you not laugh at that?!!!

Yesterday was no exception. Thankfully, this school has a really good program so there was a lot of talent we got to see which is always fun. Varsity and JV were really great so nothing too major happened with them...except this.

First, you should know that the mascot is the Yellow Jacket. One JV girl was doing her cheer by herself and at the end of it, they had to yell either "Go Jackets!" or "JV!". For some reason, this girl hit her last motion (a high V if you have any idea what I'm talking about) and yelled out "GO YACKERS!" If that wasn't funny enough, the look on her face immediately after was priceless. It was as if she knew what she said but didn't know how to correct it, so she slowly brought her hands down to her sides, looked at us for a really long time and then said really quietly, "I meant to say Jackets." and walked out. I was dying inside!

And then it was time for the freshman...

The cheer they all had to perform had a line in it that said, "We strive for perfection! We won't back down!" Varsity and JV had no problems yelling the words to the cheer. The freshman were a little different. About half of the girls would yell, "We strive for protection!" If that wasn't funny enough, one of the guys I was judging with said, "It would be even funnier if their mascot was the Trojan." It's too bad it wasn't...

You can always tell an immediate difference between a girl who has never cheered a day in her life to one who is comfortable with the sport just by how she shows crowd spirit. An experienced cheerleader walks confidently through the door and starts doing little chants the crowd can easily pick up on. For example, R-H-S! Is the best! They know when enough is enough and when to move on to the next thing. The normal flow of a cheer tryout is to show spirit once you come through the door, do your running tumbling pass, go to the center of the mat and perform your three jumps and then do your cheer and leave. An inexperienced cheerleader is one who yells "Woo!" a lot. They also don't think of what they will say ahead of time, and tend to yell random stuff. My favorite example from last night was this. A poor little girl busts through the gym doors and immediately starts yelling:

"Woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! C'mon RHS! Wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! Let's go! Woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!"

If that wasn't bad enough, right after her non-existent tumbling pass (she did a roundoff for those who are interested) she starts in again with the wooing. And then she says this:

"C'mon Cats! Scratch their eyes out! Woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!"

Really? I thought they were the Yellow Jackets? This child didn't even know who she was cheering for! And to top it off, she started getting desperate and finally said:

"C'mon! It's a great day! It's almost spring break!"

That did me in. I walked away with some great memories and good inside jokes to share with the other judges. I think that might be the best part of judging...

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!