Finding Appropriate Attire

Here's What You'll Need To Start A Sports Cheerleading Team At Your School

16 March 2018 by Bojana Graus

Starting a sports cheerleading team at your school is an excellent way to encourage a healthy active lifestyle, the development of strong bones, and a positive team spirit among the students who choose to participate. Here are the things that you'll need to get your school sports cheerleading team started off on the right foot:

Basic Instruments

It's a good idea to have a variety of basic instruments available for students to use during practice and sports games. Including a couple of instruments in a cheerleading performance is an excellent way to add some extra depth to the performance and provide a more interactive experience for everyone involved. Consider stocking your classroom with instruments such as:

• Piccolos

• Tambourines

• Guitars

• Clarinets

• Flutes

Specialty Shoes

To ensure that your students can bring many different types of performances to life, you should invest in a few sets of specialty shoes for the classroom. Choose a few different sizes for each type of shoe you decide to stock your classroom with so various students can utilize them for performances. Students can check them out when their part in a performance requires them so someone is always held accountable for their whereabouts and condition.

Some of the types of shoes you should invest in include:

• Tap

• Ballet

• Jazz

• Ghillies

One or two cheerleaders can tap to a cheer during a half-time performance to create a unique experience that spectators won't likely see from other cheerleading teams. Or have your team perform a jazz cheer that's synced to a popular song.

Batons and Ribbon Streamers

Batons and dance ribbon streamers are sure to add some pizzazz and excitement to your team's cheer performances, so it's a good idea to make sure that each student has access to one or the other throughout the school year. Batons and ribbon streamers can be used to enhance dance routines or to highlight dramatic parts of a cheer. When choosing batons and ribbon streamers for your classroom, consider the following tips:

1. Choose three or four different color and texture designs for your batons and ribbons, then invest in two of each design. This will allow you to vary your performances and create uniformity as necessary. Want a clean and organized look? Choose just one design to use for your show. Need an extravagant look? Incorporate multiple designs into your performance.

2. Stock up on ribbon streamers of different lengths so performances can be customized depending on the space and number of performers you're working with.

3. Invest in unique batons that feature things like clear casings with glitter inside, ribbons hanging out of each end, and removable glow-in-the-dark handles. This will allow your students to create performances that are one-of-a-kind even if they're based on popular plays, dance performances, or musicals.

And you can put a personal spin on your performances by asking your students to create artwork that you can have printed on the batons and ribbon streamers.

Performance Shirts

One of the most important things to consider investing in for your new sports cheerleading team is performance shirts. Performance shirts will provide a uniform and professional look your students will be proud to show off in front of their audiences. Performance shirts will not only unify your student performers, but they'll keep everyone comfortable as their bodies go to work for an audience.

Make sure your performance shirts are designed to absorb moisture to ensure everyone stays dry during their performances. Use these design tips to optimize the effectiveness of your performance shirts:

• Make sure the shirts feature long sleeves to ensure that inconsistencies that could affect the uniformity of your performances are covered such as tattoos, scars, and jewelry.

• Have your the name of your performing arts class or school incorporated into your performance shirt designs so you stand out from the crowd when performing with other classes or performance teams.

• Measure each student on the first day of class to ensure that you order the right size performance shirt for everyone—there shouldn't be a reason why a student can't get into costume by their first performance.

Order your performance shirts during the first week of class so they'll arrive and be available for practices, which will give your students an opportunity to get used to wearing them. To learn more about performance shirts, contact a company like Over Under Clothing.

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