Just for Fun Tests Tests

Just for Fun Tests Tests
For those of you who like funny, time wasting websites, take a personality test, like the "do you have a sense of humor?" test or the "are you kinky test?"

Blog Entry

Ahh, Christmas vacation.

It's nice to take a break. Basketball season gets intense.

Had a nice visit with Woodbine's coach the other night. I should look into going to the coachs' conference this Spring because it was good to swap stories with a collegue.

Varsity goals for the rest of the season:

• Getting Randi & Kelli up in Preps at games.
• Teaching Randi, Kelli, Moe, & Aleigh how to catch a basket toss
• Having each cheerleader bring & teach a new chant from an outside source

Junior High notes:

Seventh graders Kensie and Megan seem to learn quick and are pretty faithful about coming to practice. Nicole has promise, but she's been sick and had transportation issues. I wish that Kassie would hurry up and get off the ineligible list. Krystal needs to do that too, and get a Doctor's Okay. Billie needs to get well and get over her fear of crowds. Jessica is a wild card- she wants to play basketball too. She has an awesome natural voice for cheer. Loud and low pitched. She's got a huge presense too, but I have to remember she's just a little seventh grader- they are all notoriously fickle. We'll see what happens. Bethany is our rock. Mind you, she's still a hyper eighth-grader and she needs to have more patience to teach and lead, but she's still full of talent and potential. For her sake I want her family to move so they can live with her Dad on his military base, but for our sake, we need her for our program.

Speaking of which, I have got quite a few interested in coming out for Varsity next year, mostly Sophomores. I don't know if it would be better to have tryouts right after Basketball & before Track or wiat till the end of the year. If I knew I could get my Seniors to invest time to teach the new squad what they know, I'd definitely go that route- but we'll see.

Mascots

Here's one I drew a few year's back

JrHi Tee Shirt design

We're back up to a full strength of 6, but our first game is Friday, so we have a helluva lot to learn in the next 3 days!
We are: Eighth graders; Bethany, Billie, Kasie, (and on medical reserve- Krystal) and Seventh graders; Megan, Nicole, and Kenzie.

What About the Mascot?

What About the Mascot?: Girls, click here and read about why you give Brett a break!

Mascot Central at Varsity.com!

Hey Brett, check out this site- good advice- like on how to be safe & not over heat:Mascot Centrala>

2004 American School Spirit Award Finalists

2004 American School Spirit Award Finalists

Congratulations to our fellow Iowans...

In Third Place...
BCLUW High School
Conrad, Iowa (just east of Ames & north of Des Moines near Marshalltown)
Coach Jeanne Ehn
Squad GPA: 3.481

This small Iowa cheerleading squad has accomplished some very big feats. For the last three years, BCLUW has earned the Iowa High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) Distinguished Academic Award for teams with a 3.3 GPA or higher. They are five-time Iowa state cheerleading championships in Division 1A, and this year they won the IHSAA Sportsmanship Award for squads who displays or show excellence in sportsmanship. This little school has some great cheerleaders!

It's no wonder they won the Iowa Sportsmanship Award, because they developed and piloted the "Be a Winner in the Sportsmanship Game" program that is now practiced in all Iowa schools. Tips about sportsmanship are presented before athletic events by cheerleaders and athletes, the cheerleaders post signs about sportsmanship at athletic events and address similar issues at pep rallies as well. The cheerleaders go above and beyond these lessons by packing sack lunches for the entire away team of every home game.


Since 1993, this team has volunteered as line judges for the volleyball program at BCLUW. This past year, BCLUW adopted a military unit in Iraq; the cheerleaders packed the 4000 items that were collected into 70 boxes to ship overseas. Throughout the year, the cheerleaders give a variety of speeches in the community about cheerleading, being a leader, and saying "no" to drugs. And this squad goes out of their way to make their classmates feel special; in addition to locker decorations for athletes, the cheerleaders make signs for every student in the school.

Ho ho ho

Okay, okay, I know this is totally SHAMELESS and selfish, but if anyone was wondering what to get Coach for Christmas, here's my Amazon wishlist

Who's That?

Guess who? Did you know that President George W. Bush was a cheerleader in high school?

BOYER VALLEY 2004-2005 JUNIOR HIGH HOME BASKETBALL SCHEDULE

12/03/04 Lo-Ma Jr. High School Jr. High Boys DOW CITY 3:45 PM
12/06/04 Ar-We-Va Middle School Jr. High Boys DOW CITY 4:00 PM
12/14/04 Woodbine Jr. High School Jr. High Boys DOW CITY 4:00 PM
12/20/04 West Harrison Jr. High School Jr. High Boys DOW CITY 4:00 PM
01/06/05 IKM Middle School Jr High Girls DOW CITY 4:00 PM
01/13/05 Charter Oak-Ute Middle School Jr. High Boys DOW CITY 4:00 PM
01/20/05 Lo-Ma Jr. High School Jr High Girls DOW CITY 3:45 PM
01/24/05 Manning Middle School Jr. High Boys DOW CITY 4:00 PM
01/31/05 Ar-We-Va Middle School Jr High Girls DOW CITY 4:00 PM

BOYER VALLEY 2004-2005 VARSITY BASKETBALL SCHEDULE

SAT Dec. 4 MV/A-O (Vars. G/B) Mapleton
FRI Dec. 10 COU Charter Oak
TUE Dec. 14 IKM Dunlap
FRI Dec. 17 Lo.Ma Dunlap
SAT Dec. 18 Tri-Center Neola
TUE Dec. 21 Woodbine Woodbine
TUE Jan. 4 Manning Dunlap
FRI Jan. 7 West Harrison Mondamin
SAT Jan. 15 West Monona Dunlap
TUE Jan. 18 ArWeVa Westside
FRI Jan. 21 COU Dunlap
TUE Jan. 25 IKM Manilla
FRI Jan. 28 Lo-Ma Logan
TUE Feb. 1 Woodbine Dunlap
FRI Feb. 4 Manning Manning
SAT Feb. 5 Oakland-Riverside Dunlap
TUE Feb. 8 West Harrison Dunlap
FRI Feb. 11 ArWeVa Dunlap

Be prepared for District Tournament play to extend through the first week of March
Game Time: 6:30 p.m. unless otherwise indicated

BLOG entry

> Varsity should be alright. Last week we reviewed basketball chants and practiced getting up into "preps" (half-extensions). Part of me is still frustrated that we can't get together for regular, consistent practices. But to be honest, another part of me doesn't mind "putting them on cruise control," and being less of a coach and more of a "sponsor." Especially since I don't have a free period this year, I can keep up with teaching, I can work on these websites, and I can go home and be with my family.

> Mixed feelings about JrHi- We went from 5 to 3. One girls quit before the end of football- she's constantly on the D/F list and so is intelligible anyway. Another had her dad pull her out because she had one D and one F, our rules would have only suspended her for a week. A third's doctor told her no PE & no Cheer indefinitely due to a heart condition. She's pretty gung-ho to disregard doctor's orders, but I'm not comfortable with that, not when it's a heart thing!

So we went recruiting. We had 4 girls interested. Unfortunately, the 2 eighth graders only lasted a day. I was looking forward to having them because they were x-basketball players. But oh, well. The 2 seventh graders show a lot of promise- of course, our first game is Dec 3! We'll see how much we can teach them in 4 days next week!

State Volleyball

Omaha.com: "Battle-tested Tripoli sweeps Boyer Valley"

State Banner

well, we did fall to Tripoli in 3 games, but they've been to State before (last yr they placed 2nd) and we've only sent golf, drill, & cheer to State, so that qualifier banner makes us mighty proud.

The Dunlap Reporter

Lady Bulldogs are Goin' to State!

These are a few great shots from our pep-rally today, sending the Volleyball Team off to State Championship Tournaments tommorrow.

Let us hear you scream and shout!

Let us hear your Bulldog Pride...
What's that you say?

Another Actual blog entry

mallory's milieu
this link is to my "umbrella" site. Click there and you have access to all of my other sites.

ACTUAL blog entry:
Looked at the calendar and Jr Hi doesn't have to cheer until Dec 30, so some of the pressure is off.

We were hoping to add a Sophomore to be an alternate on Varsity, but she backed out at the last minute. BUt today the girls had funn. They made a TON of posters for Volleyball and, since the administration won't let us TAPE decorations on lockers, we bought helium balloons and they're tying one to each Volleyball player's locker. Mucho Gusto :)

Hey look, an actual blog entry

- Purple Cheer (Dunlap, IA) - powered by LeagueLineup.com

---

Blog Entry
Monday, Nov. 8, 2004

---

JrHi is going pretty well. We're learning basketball chants from an old (1990's) video from American Cheerleading, called "Slam Dunk Spirit II."

There's only 4 girls. We hoped we could pick up one or two more, but didn't have any takers. Our biggest hurdle is synchronicity. We can each learn a chant, but we have the hardest time doing chants together.

Jr Hi's first game is Tuesday Nov. 16th

---

Varsity confounds me. Hardly anybody brought shoes or shorts or sweats so we weren't able to practice stunts. Everybody pretty well knows all our chants. Since we have 5 Seniors and only 1 Freshman, no one really wants to work REAL hard on technique (being sharper, cleaner, more accurate, more in sync etc.).

I'd like to work on introducing new chants or actually learning cheers, but not only are shoes & sweats a problem, but it seems like everyday a majority of girls need to leave early to get to work. They're great kids and a lot of fun, so I let it go because there's no sense giving myself an ulcer or a heart attack.

We have a pep-rally to send the Volleyball Team off to State this Wed, Nov. 10. I guess that the football coach is working with the Drill coach to have his guys put on a dance for the VB team! That should be a lot of fun. It sounds like at least 4 of our 6 girls are going to try to go to the game Thursday, but we won't go in uniform as a squad. :(

Our first game is Nov. 30

2004-05 MS Cheer

Here is our Junior High Squad for 2004-2005

2004-5 Basketball Squad

Here's our official group picture for this year. The girls didn't want to include our mascot, but I made sure he got in there.

BV VB Going to State!

photo by Justin Tedford

Nov 2 Western Iowa prep volleyball results

I have to admit, I feel like my squad and I are really dropping the ball on this one. There are a couple of good luck posters up that other people made. We cheer at football, but not volleyball. THe other problem is that since we have a beautiful new school building, our administration has strictly prohibited locker decorations and posters on walls. We need to do better.

A couple of years ago we went to a VB game in uniform. We'd even researched VB chants online. We cheered at all the wrong times and were quite confused. VB players actually complained to us afterward. Last year we did make a run-through for them that we brought to Senior night.

Go watch the Lady Bulldogs play in Cedar Rapids next Thursday, Nov. 11, 2004, Veterans' Day

Go Lady Dogs!

Go DAWGS!

photo by Justin Tedford

Boyer Valley students celebrate winning Finals and a spot in the Class 1A Championships, on Election Night, Nov. 2, 2004

Everything I need to know, I learned as a cheerleader, PART 1

Disclaimer: This website is not an official Boyer Valley Website. Coach Mallory believes in and tries hard to honor the separation-of-church-and-state, SO... you need to know that this blog, as well as others are HIS, not Boyer Valley's and they reflect his ideas, opinions and beliefs, not those of BVHS.

Everything I need to know, I learned as a cheerleader, PART 1
Cheer for the ONE- "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men" ~Colossians 3:23

This totally fits with both of the pyramid of success cornerstones, Industriusness (work ethic) and Enthusiasm (passion). Because it shouldn't be about you, or the squad, or the team, school, or anybody but God.

Where's this religious stuff coming from? Well, before I moved to Iowa, I taught and coached at Los Angeles Lutheran Jr/Sr High in Sylmar, CA. Our mission statement was "We share Christ, disciple Christian believers, and educate students for college and life."

Our squad broke huddles by shouting "Glory to GOD!"

Our squad's mission statement was" Spirit-filled servant-leaders, bringing glory to God & building up Lutheran High with unity, character, and joy."

We prayed together and had devotions together. Maybe that all sounds corny to some of you, but it was amazing. So, along with my own history as a cheerleader and coach, updates on how things are going at Boyer Valley, and blocks in the Pyramid of success, I'd like to share with you "Everything I need to know, I learned as a cheerleader" at least once a week or so. Hope it means something to you.

Yes, I was a college cheerleader

You know what, I'm not even going to tell you which one is me. This is the Spirit Squad for Concordia Teacher's College in the fall of 1988. An interesting statistic is that 50% of all collegiate cheerleaders are male.

So here's the story: As a Freshman I was looking for ways to get involved and to serve my new alma mater. I was a Senator from my dorm floor. My roommate and I were hanging out in the student union (we called it a "campus center") when these girls asked us to join the cheer squad. "We'll call you yell-leaders, not cheerleaders," they said, "we need some guys so that we can build stunts," they said.

What 18 year old guy can say "no" to a girl? The rest is history.

Enthusiasm

"I studied the lives of great men and famous women, and I found that the men and women who got to the top were those who did the jobs they had in hand, with everything they had of energy and enthusiasm."
~Harry Truman

The other cornerstone to Coach Wooden's pyramid of success is Enthusiasm. I call it "Passion." It's the drive, the energy, the thing that really makes a cheerleader and sets them apart from other athletes and other people in general.

Maybe a better name for it than passion or enthusiasm would be "SPIRIT!" After all, generating enthusiasm is a cheerleader's main job. It's the whole reason that there even is a sport of charlatans.

Wooden says, "Regardless of whether you're leading as a teacher, coach, parent, or business person, or you're a member of a leadership team, you must have enthusiasm. Without it you cannot be industrious to the full level of your ability. With it you stimulate others to higher and higher levels of achievement."

Norman Vincent Peale, the famous pastor who wrote the Power of Positive Thinking, also wrote a whole book just on enthusiasm called Enthusiasm Makes the Difference.

Peale said, "When you whole heartedly adopt a 'with your whole heart' attitude and go all out with the positive principle, you can do incredible things."

It's amazing what a difference being passionate about something can make. Are you passionate about charlatans? Are you passionately committed to being your best? Are you passionately committed to your squad? Are you passionate about school spirit?

It doesn't mean going off the deep-end into obsession or fouling up your priorities. That might be why "passion" isn't as good a term as "enthusiasm." But it does mean that you enjoy what you're doing and that you don't just "go through the motions."

Peale also said "Enthusiasm releases the drive to carry you over obstacles and adds significance to all you do." It's a choice, a decision. It's easy to be apathetic. You have to decide that you are going to do what you with energy and fervor.

The best thing about it is that it's contagious. If you have enthusiasm, your sustained will catch it. If you all have it, you'll spread it to the student body and the team.

Enthusiasm is purposeful. Enthusiasm creates momentum, and people get caught up in it's wake. It's positive and progressive. Apathy is stagnant and aimless and criticism is negative and regressive. Enthusiasm, on the other hand, gets things done. Leaders need to be enthusiastic.

Not only that, but it's healthier for you too. Peale told us why, "Life's blows cannot break a person whose spirit is warmed at the fire of enthusiasm."

Some people complain about bubbly cheerleader types who never seem to let anything get them down. What a shame, I mean, wouldn't you rather be unavailable than constantly discouraged?

Having enthusiasm doesn't mean you'll be happy 24/7/365 or that you'll never be hurt or disappointed, but it does mean you'll have a focus and determination that won't let you wallow.

Here is the first cornerstone of the Pyramid of Succes, John Wooden called it Industriousness
I call it a good old fashioned Midwestern "work-ethic."

NOUN: Steady attention and effort, as to one's occupation: application, assiduity, assiduousness, diligence, industry, sedulousness.

The virtue of industriousness means working hard, and taking pride in one's work.

"There is no substitute for work. Worthwhile results come from hard work and careful planning." ~John Wooden

The success ratio looks like this: E/A=S

That means your Effort, divided by your Ability, produces Success.

You can have a denominator of 100, but if the numerator is only in the single digits, the product (sum?) will be a fraction. Conversely, even if your talent level is fairly low, if you have a high effort number, the results will be powerful.

10 divided by 100 is 0.1

but 100 divided by 5 is 20!

The point is, you can have all the talent in the world, but if you aren't willing to work hard, it will get you nowhere.

I've had cheerleaders that were born gymnasts/dancers/etc. that squandered their abilities. Likewise I've had girls who struggled with coordination, rhythm, volume, and confidence, but they were willing to learn and committed to improving. Those are the kids that made the best team mates.

What does this have to do with Cheerleading? For one thing, the crowd can easily tell if you're just "going through the motions." For another, if you don't give 100% in practice, how do you expect to give 100% at a game?

Almost every year cheerleaders ask me if we can take our squad to competition. Sometimes I ask them if they're willing to practice 4 hours a day, or practice twice a day, or practice on Saturdays, or practice year-round. I haven't had a cheerleader, let a lone an entire squad that was ready to make that kind of sacrifice.

That's Okay, cheerleading doesn't have to be about competitions, but it's important to know how much you're willing to work. Walt Disney once said, "All our dreams can come true -- if we have the courage to pursue them."

"People of mediocre ability sometimes achieve outstanding success because they don't know when to quit. Most men succeed because they are determined to." ~George Allen

"Each of us has been put on earth with the ability to do something well. We cheat ourselves and the world if we don't use that ability as best we can." ~George Allen

Coach Wooden Home Page

Coach Wooden's Pyramid of Success

Okay, I'm going to actually try to start putting some content on this site. The link above is to an outstanding program for team-building and for character building.

I coach both junior high and high school cheerleading in rural Iowa. I've been coaching now for 12 years, both in a parochial school and in a public school. If you keep visiting this site, you'll follow our basketball season. I also plan on posting a lot of things I've used in the past, some of my memories, and philosophies on kids, teaching, school spirit and positive thinking.

Did I mention that i'm a guy? An heterosexual (straight) yet non-pediphile male coaching a decidedly, predominantly female sport. I hope that makes this blog interesting for you.

Here's a shot of Randi, cheerleader and Homecoming Queen in the parade last Friday.

About this blog

Once upon a time I thought about using this blog as a jumping off point for eventually writing a book about being a male cheer coach. Never have seemed to find the time or the self-discipline.

Once upon a time I thought about using this blog as a personal journal about the trials and tribulations of being a junior high and high school cheer coach. But it seems like too many cheerleaders and occasionally parents actually read it and once in a while I'd strike a nerve or otherwise just say something that someone would take issue with. So, in the interest of good PR, I tried to totally back off of that.

Which left this blog kind of a fun photo album/scrap book for my cheer squad and a (hopefully) a means of communicating to both those cheerleaders and their parents. I'd like to hope that it is also a way for my former cheerleaders and mascots to get a glimpse of what we're going now and hopefully get back in touch with me or each other.

I coach Varsity & JrHi Cheerleading at Boyer Valley MS/HS in Dunlap, Iowa.
I used to coach at Los Angeles Lutheran Jr/Sr High in Sylmar, California.

Are You a cheer alumn? Are you keeping tabs on anybody else from Boyer Valley or L.A. Lutheran cheer squads? PLEASE, let me know! At the risk of getting all kinds of spam, here's where you can reach me- ted.mallory@ gmail.com

---

Disclaimer: This is not an official BVCS site. The views expressed here and the links provided here are not necessarily those of the school, it's administrators or board. This site is the sole responsibility of Coach.