Do's and Don'ts for Props in Game Day Cheerleading

 As a Game Day Cheerleader, your main goal is to effectively lead the crowd and help motivate the team you are cheering for! There are different ways to help get the crowd involved. Poms, signs and megaphones are the best props to use to get your crowd on their feet and yelling with you! Here are a few Do's and Don'ts for props!

Poms attract a lot of attention from the crowd because they are colorful and sometimes shiny. They stand out when they are in your hands. 

Do: Always hold your poms above your waist. This will help you look alert while in front of a crowd.
Don't: Never drop your poms below your waist. Letting your arms dangle with your poms in hands looks lazy. 

Do: When using poms in a cheer or sideline, make sure the poms are in the correct hands. If you are yelling "Blue" you should hit a motion with your blue pom. If you are yelling"Gold", you want to use the gold pom.
Don't: It's important to pay attention to which pom is in each hand. If you aren't paying attention and accidentally hold up the wrong color pom, it can be embarrassing since the entire team is holding up one color and you are holding up a different color. 

Do: Hit all of your motions sharp when using poms. 
Don't: Try not to let your motions be sloppy when using poms. Since the poms are very visually appealing, if your motions are sloppy the crowd will be able to tell. 

Signs are a great way to get the crowd involved! Using signs helps the crowd see the words the cheerleaders want them to yell. 

Do: Lift the sign sharp when you want the crowd to yell. 
Don't: Do not be sloppy when using signs. Not lifting your sign sharp looks lazy. It is hard for the crowd to get motivated when the cheerleaders look lazy. 

Do: Use your sign for key words that you want the crowd to yell with you!
Don't: Accidentally holding the sign upside down can confuse the crowd and make it hard for them to read what you want them to yell. It also can be embarrassing in front of a large amount of people. 

Do: Using a sign in stunts can help with the visual appeal of the cheer as well as make it easier for everyone in the crowd to see the sign better.
Don't: If you happen to drop your sign when building your stunt, don't look at the ground where you dropped your sign. Do the motions for the cheer and pretend that it never even happened. 
Megaphones are a good way to make your voice louder so the crowd can hear!

Do: Use your megaphone while saying cheers and sidelines so the crowd can hear exactly what you want them to yell.
Don't: Try not to make the megaphone a distraction. 

Some of these tips may seem pretty obvious, but in a game situation accidents can happen. Always make sure you doing your part as a Game Day Cheerleader!

Author, Rebecca Virgadamo has been on UCA Staff for 9 years. She has taught cheerleading camps all over the country as well as internationally. She has performed with UCA  in Las Vegas and New York City. She also cheered at Sacramento State for 4 years and was captain for one year. Rebecca is very happy to be in China to share her cheerleading knowledge with the kids in China!