Mid-summer homework assignment for the first half of John Wooden's Pyramid of Success

Alertness - Please try to notice things about a person, place or thing that you previously overlooked. Share what you notice with someone else.

Self Control -  Please try not to expressing every feeling you have as soon as you feel it. Please try to see how long you can go without cussing or using the finger. Please challenge yourself to deliberately do something healthy for yourself or kind for someone else every day that you either ordinarily wouldn't or would by nature not want to do.

Friendship - If you haven't yet, please try to learn more about someone on either HS or MS cheer whom you don't know very well. Please try to see potential or positive things in someone who perhaps you've considered mildly annoying. Please write a note to someone who's already your friend telling them something you admire or appreciate about them.

Loyalty - Start buying lots of things that are purple or have something to do with bulldogs. It doesn't have to be clothing, it can be pencil cases or bookmarks or nail polish or cards. Anything.

Cooperation- Please read or re-read through each of the notes I've posted about the Pyramid of Success so far. Please think about things you can do to help cheer go smoothly this year- especially if you've seen sports or clubs (including cheer) that had a lot of conflict in the past.

Enthusiasm - Please get excited about how YOU are going to get to rev people up, be positive and encouraging to make our school a better place, and build a sense of community and pride at BV

Industriusness - PLEASE view the DVD's I gave out at the end of the year and try to learn or review as many chants as you can. Please work on and practice as many cheer jumps as you can.

BV Cheer | Google Groups

BV Cheer | Google Groups

If you're a MS or HS Cheerleader at Boyer Valley next year, be sure to join the new Google Group!

Your most valuable piece of equipment

Your most valuable piece of equipment as a cheerleader is... your voice, of course. I recently took a class for teachers and school professionals on crisis intervention and they taught us about using our voices to defuse potentially volatile situations with our voices. They explained that "non-verbals" doesn't just refer to facial expression and body language- some of the most powerful part of communication is not what you say, but how you say it. In other words, it's not the words, but the non-verbal vocal qualities that can calm, intimidate, or in the case of a cheerleader- invigorate.

The instructors, both school psychologists explained to us how important 3 aspects of our voices are.

1. Tone
2. Volume
3. Cadence

Tone- if a student is anxious, defensive, or acting-out, adults need to avoid sounding impatient, condescending or inattentive. People can HEAR if you care and if you're calm. When an adult tells you that they "don't like your tone of voice," it probably means that no matter what your words said, you sounded ironic, sarcastic, patronizing, or disrespectful. 

In the same way, the crowd can hear if you're confident and poised, but more importantly, they can hear if you're intneted, invested, and enthusiastic. Invested- you care that the team do well. Enthusiastic- you're having fun and you're positive and you want the crowd to have fun and stay positive- even if the team's down. Intented- that means you're purposeful, your purpose is to raise the energy level and your objective is to get the crowd to cheer WITH you. (Intentedness, enthusiasm, confidence and poise are all blocks in John Wooden's famous Pyramid of Success).

Another word for tone is expression. Practice reading things with different types of expression and you'll realize how much how you say something can change how the meaning may be interpreted. This will make you a better reader, a decent actor, a great cheerleader and a very effective communicator. This is a skill that will help you all through your life, no matter what your job is, with just about anybody and in almost any situation.

Volume- Teachers need to use an appropriate volume taking into consideration distance and situation... Inside voice? Outside voice? Classroom lecture voice? Polite conversation voice? Private conversation voice? Library/Movie theater/Church/Funeral Home voice? Factory assembly line floor voice? You see what I'm getting at? How many kids don't go out for sports because they complain that the coach is always yelling at them? Hello- They're outdoors with 20-40 noisy kids and they have to make sure that everyone can hear them- they're yelling TO you not necessarily AT you.

This goes without saying. Any cheerleader needs to be heard from at least 50 feet away. There are plenty of things you can do to work on this. Ask me if you'd like some exercises. Don't be surprised if I post some here on the blog or on facebook whether you ask for them or not. Posture and pitch have a lot of effect on volume. Using your diaphragm is key. Strong core muscles and respiratory endurance all help too. No smoking either.

Finally Cadence- If a teacher wants you to understand and follow directions, they need to deliver their instructions using an even rate and rhythm. Readers and actors have to consider their flow or fluency. For cheerleaders, you have to be two things- even (AKA consistent) and deliberate (not too slow, but definitely not out of control- too fast). The analogy I use with  my squads is a locomotive. You're the engineers for the "Spirit Train," and the fans in the stands are all hobos. Only unlike the Union Pacific, you WANT all the hobos to get on board with you. Travel too slow and they'll feel like you'll never get them anywhere. Travel as fast as a magnetic bullet-train and they'll have no hope of ever climbing on. You have to keep it even and steady, so they can match you and understand you, beat for beat, syllable for syllable.

Obviously pitch and inflection are really important too, but for now, try working on your tone, volume, and cadence. If you can skillfully master your most important piece of equipment, you'll quickly become powerfully effective at leading cheers.

The Cross Crawl

This exercise helps coordinate right and left brain (something my Drawing students know about) by exercising the information flow between the two hemispheres. It is useful for spelling, writing, listening, reading and comprehension. Stand or sit. Put the right hand across the body to the left knee as you raise it, and then do the same thing for the left hand on the right knee just as if you were marching.Just do this either sitting or standing for about 2 minutes.

Cheerleaders and Drill Teamers- This is a phenomenal way to help you develop your coordination, rhythm, balance, and even core (abs) strength.

To make sure you get between 20 and 30 reps, you could say the alphabet to yourself. I like the standing version, but I know many people do it on their backs.


Here's another version of it. Check this out. This chiropractor is doing it on all fours. He may look ridiculous- but this simple exercise is not just done for physical therapy and rehab- Olympic athletes use this to train.

Morningside Cheer Clinic

Open a PDF of the Morningside Cheer Clinic Flyer

Follow this link to a flyer and registration form for Morningside's 2010 High School Cheer Camp that we will be offering this summer. We are very excited to be bringing in an official NCA Instructor to lead the camp and I think it will be an excellent opportunity for your cheerleaders!

This is a great one day "camp," and it's really cheap too. I'm taking a class at Morningside in July already, so we might have to figure out some kind of transportation, but it's definitely worth it.

Check out the flyer, check your calendars, talk to your parents and let me know as soon as possible if you're interested.

TENTATIVE 2010 BV Varsity Football Schedule

In case you've been living on Mars and hadn't heard, Boyer Valley will be playing 8-Man football next year. 

"at" = Away,  "v." = home.  All Games played on Friday night at 7PM

AUG 27   at Whiting HS

SEP 03   v. Kingsley/Pierson HS

SEP 10   at East Greene HS in Grand Junction

SEP 17   v. ArWeVa HS

SEP 24   v. Coon Rapids/Bayard HS

OCT 01   at Charter Oak/Ute HS

OCT 08   v. Glidden/Ralston HS (it has not been decided or announced, but I'd expect this to be Homecoming)

OCT 15   at Woodbine HS (this will be the renewal of a long-time neighborly rivalry)

OCT 22   v. Walnut HS (goes without saying, this will be Seniors'/Parents' Night- congrats Kaitlyn!)

Bit of an identity crisis

This blog is 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. Lately it's made more sense and been easier to fulfill these functions on facebook.

As the school Web site coordinator, I really feel like much of this blog's content needs to start being featured there. As technology in Education continues to evolve and teachers and coaches like me seek to make Web content more interactive for students, I've been toying a lot lately with establishing a Cheer Wiki.

All this leaves me very tempted to return this blog to my original intention, a journal about my unique opinions and experiences as a male coach in a predominantly female sport. Which, like every other wannabe here on the Web, I could eventually turn into a book, good luck, right?

Worst case scenario, I'd just get lazy and leave it fallow since it's main purposes are being taken care of either on facebook or by direct email. But we'll see. If nothing else, I'll just duplicate material here, that way all you'll have to do is search for it and it will be archived here.

If you've got any suggestions or opinions on the future of this blog,  please let me know.

Work on your Jumps

Four great ways to work on jumps over summer are 1. on a trampoline, 2. under water IN the pool, 3. off the side or diving board INTO the pool, 4. get this, it increases your height, strength and sharpness- with ANKLE WEIGHTS! They're relatively cheap at Walmart or Target, but DON'T wear them in the pool.



How to Do Jump Builders
Learn exercises called jump builders that will help develop your cheerleading muscles in this free video series on advanced cheerleading moves. Expert: Shyra Fernandez  Bio: Shyra Fernandez has taught for collegiate teams, all-stars, dance teams and schools nationwide.








How to Practice Cheerleading Jumps
When practicing cheerleading jumps, stretch frequently and thoroughly, and try practicing in front of a full-length mirror. Practice cheerleading jumps with tips from an experienced cheerleader in this free video on cheerleading stunts. Expert: Lucy Spain Contact: lucyspain.com





How to Do a Cheerleading Herkie
The cheerleading herkie jump can be done to the left or right, and is often incorporated into cheerleading routines, cheers or just when showing spirit. Learn to do a cheerleading herkie with tips from an experienced cheerleader in this free video on cheerleading stunts.



How to Do a Cheerleading Toe Touch
A cheerleading toe touch is one of the most popular jumps in cheerleading and requires pointed toes, a straight back and even legs. Perform a cheerleading toe touch with tips from an experienced cheerleader in this free video on cheerleading stunts.

Basic Cheer Motions

How to Do Advanced Cheer Leading Moves : How to Do Basic Cheerleading Arm Motions

Learn the basic arm motions in cheerleading in this free video series in this free video series on advanced cheerleading moves.

If you learn these, learning everything else will come easy.

Expert: Shyra Fernandez
Bio: Shyra Fernandez has taught for collegiate teams, all-stars, dance teams and schools nationwide.

Try learning this one this summer

Cheerleading Cheers : Cheerleading Cheers: The G-O Go

During the G-O Go cheer, cheerleaders alternate making a low and high V with their arms. Learn to do a G-O Go cheer with tips from an experienced cheerleader in this free video about cheerleading stunts and chants.

Expert: Lucy Spain
Contact: lucyspain.com

Involvement and Commitmentrelationships and responsibility

Thank you for coming out for Football Cheer at Boyer Valley this Fall. I appreciate your interest and commend you for your "moxie."

Our job is to get the crowd to make some noise. We're supposed to promote school spirit and pride.

Psychiatry tells us that besides food, clothing, and shelter, everyone has just a few major needs; meaningful involvement with someone else and to feel like we're worthwhile to ourselves and each other. People who learn how to meet these needs without depriving others of opportunities to have their needs met are considered responsible. If you either can't get these needs met at all, or are constantly tying to meet your own needs with no regard for anybody else's are pretty much "irresponsible."

Cheerleading offers you an opportunity to meet these needs, learn how you can meet these needs for yourselves once you leave high school, and as a bonus- an it gives you a chance to help fill these needs for the whole school and community!

Meaningful involvement and contributing something worthwhile, making a difference.

This may sound far fetched, but I mean every word of it. Everyone likes to feel like they're a part of someting bigger than just themselves. That's why schools have mascots and school colors. You're not just a girl or a guy, a Smith or a Jones- you are a Bulldog and it's the cheer squad's job to make everyone feel proud to be a Bulldog too!

Meaningful involvement- being part of something and contributing something worthwhile, making a difference. These take effort and committment. It's a big responsibility, but it's very rewarding.

This isn't just about school spirit. Remember, it's about meaningful involvment- interpersonal skills, and it's about feeling worthwhile because you contribute something.

If you let me, I want to help you become responsible members of a team. I can be a tutor, an advisor, and even a mentor. Someone who will care about you and yet hold you accountable for being more than you thought you could be.

But this isn't just about athletes and their coach. Remember, it's about involvement and commitment, relationships and responsibility. You are no longer just another kid, you are part of the cheer squad.

It didn't seem to work to get everyone together for tryout practices this week. It doesn't look like there will be any inexpensive cheer camps around our area this summer, and between Volleyball, Cross Country, and jobs, it may not look like we'll get a lot of practices in between football games next Fall. So communication and flexiblitiy are going to be important.

Once or twice a week this summer, I'll send you a note like this talking about some of the things that make people a leader and what makes a team. If you read them and take them to heart, it should help us be able to work together better when we do get together next Fall. I hope that it might even end up helping you some in the rest of life too, not just cheerleading.

I really believe that cheerleading can make a positive difference in each of your lives, just like a good cheer squad makes a positive difference in their school.

(Posted on Facebook, 2010 Football Squad members were tagged in the note)

Drill/Cheer Announcement

Monday, May 3 Track Concessions Workers- Megan Behrendt, Emmmie Wood, Maddie McDonough, Makayla Carter, Codi Block, Renea Siemer. Please remember,  every Drill Squad and Cheer Squad member must work at least one track meet. If you have a conflict, it is your responsibility to work it out with your track or golf coaches, parents or employers. Please make sure that you inform Mr. Mallory of any trades or substitutions. Thank you. If absolutely necessary, your parents or an NHS member can work for you. 

Tuesday, May 11 Track Concession Workers- Melissa Kroll, Cammey Hast, Sasha Meggers, Kaitlyn Bonsall, Johanna Brown, Kelsey Bentz, Holly Harriott, and Christian Liesinger.

Cheerleading for next school year- If you are interested in cheering or being mascot next year for either football, basketball, or both, please fill out the form at http://www.cheercoach.blogspot.com  or at http://www.boyer-valley.k12.ia.us/vnews/display.v/ART/4bcb4eaf30d85  A sign-up sheet will also be outside the Art room.

Tryout Practices for Football Cheer will be Mon & Tue May 17&18, immediately after school. Tryout will be Thursday, May 20, 3:30-5:00 pm

6th and 7th graders interested in cheerleading next school year- If you are interested in cheering or being mascot next year for either football, basketball, or both, please fill out the form at http://www.cheercoach.blogspot.com or at http://www.boyer-valley.k12.ia.us/vnews/display.v/ART/4bcb4eaf30d85