2004-05 (off-season)

Junior High off-season Cheer, Spring 2005:
Beth (8), Billie (8), Meg (7),
Kassie (8), NIki (7), Sasha (7), and Kim (7).
Mallory

Track Concessions schedule

Track Concessions schedule
Click here for the schedule of track oncessions workers. This makes Cheer around $1,500 per year- enough for new uniforms, so please make sure you're on time and stay until we're all cleaned up. Thanks!

P.S. I got a new Scheduling/Addressbook program for my computer yesterday and I'd like to update all of my information. If you're a current, potential, or former LALHS or BV cheerleader or mascot, would you email me with you're current info? Thanks, Coach

Woof
Mallory

Halelulia!

I got a commitment from a freshman who's going to be a sophomore, let's call her Candidate 'E.'
She cheered in both 7th and 8th so she knows her stuff and she's competed in gymnastics at the State Fair!

So, worst case cenario we have two- best case, we're up to 5.

This is not an official school website, so I'm going to go ahead and breech that wall between church and state here and ask for your prayers. Please pray that our program will hold together, that we'll have at least 4 and at most 8 varsity cheerleaders for football season next fall. More importantly, please pray for candidates 'A' and 'B.'

I don't know what's going on in A's life right now, but she's very troubled. And I certainly didn't want to hurt B's feelings or embarrass her by what I said about her in my last post here. She' had a helluva year, so she also needs God's help, comfort, strength, and protection.

I really should praise my JrHi squad a lot more, they're really getting good. I should also thank Varsity Senior Kelli for how much she's helped me with them since 7th per is her studyhall. Of course, I'm a moody, tired bear by that time each day so I'm probably WAY too lazy with how hard I push them.

Some neat side notes;

I Got a cool baby present from Coach Christina (my successor at LALHS) she made a 3 tiered wedding cake out of rolled-up diapers and topped it with baby blocks. Adorable and useful too! Thanks Princess Coach!

I got a wedding invitation from Xela. She didn't cheer for me, she was on my wife's squad at LHS while I was still coaching JrHi- but she was my main teacher/ "Assistant Coach" like Kelli is this year and we got pretty close by email her first few yeras at college. We're WAY happy & excited for her.

When sending out one of my famous mass emails about this blog to all my former cheerleaders I got a undelivered message back on "Joey," (one of my goddaughters). So I guess I'd better send her some snail mail to make sure I can keep track of her.

Bummin...

Okay, so here's where we stand with Varsity:

Candidate 'A' would have been solid, but today told me that she may move to another state! :( I'm starting to worry about her since she's been pretty depressed for a while now.

Candidate 'B' very solid, but frankly, rumor has it that she scares away people who might otherwise have come out. Personality? Bossy? Reputation? I don't know. I can't rightly ask her to quit so that the "popular" kids will come out, but we can't have a one-person squad either. :( :( I care about her and have commited to her that I want to mentor her.

Candidate 'C' very shy, poor back, won't make a solid commitment- and there's no chance of getting her at all if candidate 'A' is gone. :(

Candidate 'D' won't give me a firm committment either. She's told me that candidate 'B' is not an issue for her when I pressed her. Today she told me that she's planning on going out for Basketball, so she'd only cheer durring Volleyball anyway. She claims to be trying to recruit other people to come out, but can't get any- I suspect that she'd commit if at least one other one of her friends would too. :(

And that's it. NO ONE else has approached me.

Now, as for Junior High:

We have four seventh graders who'll probably return as eighth graders. One more is in track, and another has kind of lattched on to me as her "favorite teacher," but her guardian doesn't like her being in cheer, he'd rather her be in a "real" sport. :)

Today a seventh grade boy told me he MIGHT be interested. He also said that his older sister would come back out for Varsity if he did. (she'd be "Candidate 'E'," she cheered in Jr Hi last year) Of course, I already know that their family is planning on open enrolling to a different school to get better service for their younger, special needs brother.

Fear

Rumors has it that tryouts are just too scary. One girl is scared that she'll be too busy next year durring football season, but she might be able to cheer for basketball. Another was just plain scared to perform in front of the tryout judges. Of course, she's afraid of cheering in front of the bigger high school crowds too anyway. And two other girls were too scared that one of them wouldn't make it and they wanted to be on cheer together.

Cheerleading is about overcoming your fears. Here are just a few fears that cheerleaders need to defeat:

Acousticophobia- Fear of noise.

Acrophobia- Fear of heights.

Acousticophobia- Fear of noise.

Acrophobia- Fear of heights.

Algophobia- Fear of pain.

Aviophobia or Aviatophobia- Fear of flying.

Barophobia- Fear of gravity.

Bibliophobia- Fear of books.

Bromidrosiphobia or Bromidrophobia- Fear of body smells.

Cenophobia or Centophobia- Fear of new things or ideas.

Chiraptophobia- Fear of being touched.

Dementophobia- Fear of insanity.

Demophobia- Fear of crowds. (Agoraphobia)

Didaskaleinophobia- Fear of going to school.

Enochlophobia- Fear of crowds.

Ephebiphobia- Fear of teenagers.

Ergophobia- Fear of work.

Illyngophobia- Fear of vertigo or feeling dizzy when looking down.

Katagelophobia- Fear of ridicule.

Laliophobia or Lalophobia- Fear of speaking.

Ligyrophobia- Fear of loud noises.

Neophobia- Fear of anything new.

Ochlophobia- Fear of crowds or mobs.

Phonophobia- Fear of noises or voices or one's own voice

Scolionophobia- Fear of school.

Social Phobia- Fear of being evaluated negatively in social situations.

Phobophobia- Fear of phobias.

Panophobia or Pantophobia- Fear of everything.

"We have nothing to fear but fear itself." ~Franklin D. Roosevelt

"For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self discipline." ~2 Timothy 1:7

So... the good news is, I decided not to give in to fear of change. So, we just won't have tryouts. I'll go back to recruiting and hope that I get more than my core two to commit. I already have three "maybes." One of them is one of the two who skipped tryouts together. Wish us luck. Prayers are also appreciated! I'll let you know what happens.

Shoot a mile

Well, on paper I had 6 candidates. There was a rumor that I had a seventh.

When it came down to it today, there were only the two.

I wrote a long rant this morning when a student told me that two candidates weren't coming out because they didn't like the other people going out. There was some glitch with my computer or the net and it wouldn't post.

Another candidate was too frightened to tryout.

A third told me that she just thought she was too busy.

The three outgoing Seniors suggested not having tryouts, just taking anyone who comes out. If there actually were more than 8 in FB or 6 in BB then I could separate them into Varsity and JV.

I'm not sure what I'll do, but it would be hard to demand that the two diehards cheer as just a duo. On the other hand, I want to remain committed to them since they've shown such committment themselves.

I'm sure that the school would love to save money and just let the program die, I on the other hand genuiniely need what little stipend I have to help supplement our incomes.

Maybe we'll give it a shot without tryouts, or try again in May or August. Maybe we just focus on Jr Hi Cheer for a year. I guess I'll give myself some time to gather my wits about me, then I'll talk to those committed two and see how they think they'd like to proceed.

I gave the judges their cookies and pop and cut them loose. They went home to do homework or whatever. The two diehards moped on home too.

I'd do that too, but one of our judges is coming all the way from Omaha/Council Bluffs. She's a former cheerleader who graduated in 2002. She's been taking classes toward a coaching endorsement...


She comiserated with me. May as well head home. Time to start focusing on gettting a summer job instead of dealing with the soap opera that is cheerleading.

Day Two

Whew, a much better day. We kept the two vets who came yesterday. Two candidates who were really quastionable anyway still didn't show- one of them pulled out anyway, due to back problems.

We added three more, all track athletes, and one of them cheered in junior high! :)

As if that wasn't good enough, we also got another eighth grader to committ. And, one more two of the track girls are going to prep another girl for tryouts Thursday who couldn't come to practice today.

So, we went from two, to potentially seven. What a relief.

So, Audrey, Christina, Kenny, Moe, Kelly, and Rosie- we WILL still need judges Thursday. I'll bring ya some pop or treats or something> :) Thanks

Food for Thought.

●We've all had bad things happen to us, we all have skeletons in our closets, we all have dysfunctional families. But we don't have to let where we're coming from dictate where we're going:

"Its not what happens to you that determines how far you will go in life;
it is how you handle what happens to you."

~Zig Ziglar

●If people don't like us... could it be because we don't like ourselves? If we come off as costic, aggrivated or anti-social, is it because we're angry, negative, or feeling dorry for ourselves?:

"How we think shows through in how we act. attitudes are mirrors of the mind. They reflect thinking."

~David J. Schwartz American Trainer,

Author of ''The Magic of Thinking Big''

●Cheerleading is about becoming positive. That doesn't mean being Pollyanna or saccharine- it doesn't mean going through life in denial, thinking that everything is a happy Care Bear's movie. It doesn't mean being fake. But it does mean that we can't wallow in the past or obsess about our problems. Being positive means looking forward, and moving ahead, looking up. The following passages are often talked about in Christian circles as "cheerleader" verses. The ealy Church in Philippi was facing religious persecution, St.Paul was in prison, facing martyrdom. Yet Paul told them to work on their relationship with God and to focus on the positive. That's awesome advice:

⁶Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

⁸Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things. ⁹Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me–put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

¹²I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. ¹³I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

~Philippians 4:6-8, 12-13

Day One

Only two showed up. They were the veteran candidates. One freshman and one eight grader.
No outgoing Senior vets showed up to help. One is in track, two had to work, one was sick and missed school and one left school early for some reason (I suspect a prom-dress shopping trip with her mom).

Two rookie candidates said they didn't know it started today. That's why I've run announcemnts and hung posters with the dates the last two weeks.

We talked one eighth grader into coming out after all last minute, so she didn't have a ride.

One more person is in track and the women's track coach is pretty possesive of her time. (Did I put that diplomatically?)

And, one last candidate just plain didn't show. She's a little iffy anyway, undecided, uncommitted. Whatchyagonnado?

So, the three of us assessed our options. What can we expect from the candidates who weren't there? Who else could we recruit? Should we hold tryouts again in May and/or August or September?

And we just plain talked and I feel like I really got to know them better. And they learned a lot about each other. Hopefully that's good bonding time and barrier-break-down time, so at least we three will be able to work together to rebuild the program.

We'll see what tommorrow will bring.

Secret Identity

Mascot revealed! Brett hasn't got "Boyer Valley" spirit, he's still hung up on "Dow City-Arion" spirit.
Seen here, her wears his DC-A gear for "Retro-Day" during "Gnimocemoh" week.
Mallory

Tryouts

Sigh. Yes, stupid, stinkin cheer tryouts are this week

You can follow them on-
http://cheercoach.blogspot.com/

Treat it like 'American Idol' or something. See who makes it and who doesn't/

Seniors- PLEASE try and come today, Tuesday, and Thursday to help teach and judge. Come to think of it, if Audrey or Christina Rose are around, in town and free any of those days 3:30-4:30/5 you're welcome to help/judge too!

And yes, as I ask my ex cheerleaders EVERY year, please pray for me and this whole process.
Bad timing? Parent Teacher Conferences are the week of the 21st. Yuck

Thanks,
Love Coach

Tryout Anxiety

This happens every year. Candidates talk about how much they hate tying out, but I holding tryouts too.

One girl I've been trying to recruit told me this morning that she's open enrolling to a different school next year. Another one isn't over a foot injury yet and want to heal up for Soccer anyway.

Our mascot has decided that he only wants to perform during football season next year, but not basketball.

My veteran with the most experience, who's also the best teacher, can't help me at all this week because she has to work.

There's a candidate who's was pretty uncoordinated back in junior high- when she was removed from the squad for stealing something from the opponents' locker room, but she's best friends with our only returning underclassman.

And of course, plenty of kids have said that they want to only come out for basketball season, but not football and they can't come to tryouts now anyway because they have to go to track practice.

Whine.

Who knows. Maybe we'll only have 2 or 3 people on squad next fall. At least we'll save money on new uniforms!

Just once I'd like to have 20 candidates for 6 coveted spots. That actually happened to me a couple of times back at LA Lutheran.

Well, whatchyagonnado but pray and hope and wait. Amen

Loud and proud

Loud and proud
By Coach Ted Mallory Charter Oak-Ute NEWSpaper Thurs. March 10, 2005

March 7-13, 2005 is National Cheerleading Week. According to USA Today. There are about 3 million cheerleaders in the US today. Varsity Spirit, largest of about 50 cheerleading companies, made almost $150 million last year. American Cheerleader magazine debuted in 1994 and now has a circulation over 200,000.

Tommy Lee Jones recently stared in “Man of the House,” a movie where he plays a Texas Ranger charged with protecting members of the University of Texas cheer squad who had witnessed a murder. Its cheesy, contrived and predictable, but still cute. Of course, I may appreciate it more than most. I’ve been coaching Cheer since 1993. I know what its like to be trapped in a van with six giggling teenage girls for hours at a time.

The first organized cheers were chanted at Princeton football games in the 1880’s. The first official Yell squad was at the University of Minnesota in the 1990’s. In the roaring 20’s squads started adding pyramids and tumbling. Cheerleading was a predominantly male sport until all the men went off to war in the 1940’s.

Cheerleading is purely American. Think about it. Baseball evolved from Cricket, Football evolved from Rugby. Only Basketball and Cheerleading are purely American originals.

In High School, cheerleading is about school spirit. College cheerleading is all about stunts and athletics. Unfortunately, the cheerleaders for professional football and basketball seem to be more about glamor and swimsuit calendars. Kind of like how respectable high school and college wrestling are as sports, but Pro-Wrestling is pretty much a corny, violent soap opera.
Club squads, which are not affiliated with schools have become very popular recently.

Performing and competing against other cheer squads has become more important to these “all-star” squads as a sport in their own right then raising the spirit at football or basketball games.

The National Federation of State High School Spirit Associations’ official rules book states the first duty of Cheerleading is to “boost school spirit, promote good sportsmanship, and develop good positive crowd involvement Cheerleaders are in a position of great influence, therefore” …"high standards of conduct are essential. Cheerleaders can become the schools most effective student leaders.”

As a coach, I tend to agree with this philosophy. I take it even further. Cheerleading can be a tremendous opportunity to develop important qualities in yourself, your squad-mates and your classmates that will help you throughout your life and in every aspect of your life. The most obvious one might be fitness and fitness habits. I personally think that the most important ones are service, confidence, and positivity.

Service is vital to Cheer and to leadership. You would be amazed as a football or basketball player at the difference that a good cheer squad and crowd noise can make. We are there for them. Cheerleaders shouldn’t be self-focused, we should be focused on others. The ball-team athletes will tell you, there’s something powerful about playing with a lot of noise.

Cheerleaders can make a lot of noise, but their job is to get the crowd to make noise, to lead them in cheers. When the stands are packed and chanting in unison, its electric. It really can help the players, it literally can help determine the outcome of the game. If you’ve been to any of the Lady Bobcat basketball tournaments, you know its true.

Cheerleaders would also be amazed at how much young children watch them, imitate them, and want to be like them. Service could be small thing like picking up trash in the stands after a game, being quiet in the team bus, letting players get on and off the bus before you, or big things, like donating lots of time or money to some charity, church or community activities.

Either way, you can have a lot more influence by helping others than by ordering people around. If you take the focus off yourself and focus on helping others. You’ll be surprised and how good you feel, and how important you become. Perhaps, most importantly, you’ll have a lot less conflict with others if you’re not always trying to get your own way.

Standing in front of hundreds of people, jumping, shouting, and chanting aren’t things that come easy. Leading a pep-rally, speaking your opinion, standing up for what’s right, making new friends, engaging a stranger in conversation, holding up under peer-pressure, saying no, knowing that you have strengths and abilities to handle any situation- these are all things that you can develop by being a cheerleader. Trust in others and trust in yourself. What could Cheering offer that is more valuable than confidence?

Positivity is the next thing that Cheer offers. Think about that old saying “If you’re not part of the solution, then you’re part of the problem.” People who look for the good in any situation and any individual can usually find it. Once found, it can be used to make things better for everybody. Too often, too many of us tend to be critical of one another and ourselves. That kind of negativity is unproductive.

Optimism is more effective, progressive and productive. Certainly life isn’t always easy, cheerleaders don’t have to be in denial about real life, but if you’re going to encourage others, you can’t focus on what’s discouraging. Like the old saying says; “When life hands you lemons, make lemonade!” Knowing that no matter how bad it gets, you can still get through it, move on, and learn, even gain from the pain- how awesome is that?

Some people think that they could never be cheerleaders, they’re not “perky” enough. Don’t think of it as being saccharine or Pollyanna, think of it as being positive. That’s part of the American character, that’s looking forward instead of feeling sorry for your self or criticizing and blaming the people around you. That’s leadership.