The Cheerleading Junkie

Supernatural All Stars switched from the United scoring system to the Open Championship Series(OCS) three years ago. Jill discusses the reasons why she switched and why OCS is better for her gym.

Jill talks about the Let Them Theory and how it can be applied by gym owners, athletes and parents. This is a great tool to help people accept anything outside of their control and to move forward in a positive, constructive way.

Link to the Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins:

https://www.melrobbins.com/book/the-let-them-theory/

Jill discusses Open Houses: Why should a gym run an open house? Why should prospective cheerleaders go to one? What are the benefits from everyone's perspective.

Jill talks about how athletes should decide on being Prep vs Elite, and how to prepare for evaluations.

Jill talks about her process for awarding scholarships, and then goes on to discuss how she decides on team placements.

Jill discusses themes for naming teams. Her gym chooses a different theme each season rather than having team names carry over season after season. Why does she do this? Listen to find out.

Jill also talks about why she believes it is important to do annual evaluations for all athletes.

Jill tells a story about one of her favorite team-building games and how it had a transformative effect on one of her teams, and particularly on one of her athletes, this season.

Jill talks about frustrations with best-day scoring at 2 day comps. She also talks about challenges with using social media to communicate with parents and athletes, and challenges with their use of social media.

Joanna Cuthbert is a coach, former program owner, and she also coached the Team England Adaptive Abilities team to Worlds in 2016 and 2017. She is currently the chair of the National Governing body for Cheer in England and she is the owner of Squad Safe. Check it out at www.squadsafe.org

Jeff Benson is the owner of Mind Body Cheer, a sports performance company that empowers athletes to achieve excellence.