Category: Spirit

On the 34th episode of Drills=Skills Shea and Sean discuss preparing for competition.

When stunting your dips should be 2 counts down and 1 count up. Going slower down will help maintain control over the stunt during the dip. Going faster up will provide the power for the upcoming skill. The ratio of coming up in half the time it took to get down emphasizes that coming up…

The USASF has sent a steady stream of emails over the past couple of weeks. These emails have covered topics including the Webinar Wednesday series, Special Needs, the Growth Task Force, being Competition Ready, Provisional International Cheer Divisions, and the Dance Worlds Score Sheet. We’ll share as much information from these emails as we feel…

Ben Hazlerig of SceneZing joins the guys on this week’s Drills=Skills.

Everyone likes a good celebration. As a coach you should celebrate the small victories of your teams and athletes. Everyone celebrates Sally getting her tuck, but why not celebrate Sally progressing from throwing her head back to keeping it in when learning her tuck too? Add celebrating Sally landing that tuck for the first time…

Bounding Skills is the topic for the 32nd version of Drills=Skills.

The USASF Dance Worlds score sheets and training webinars have been posted to the website. The Category Directors recorded a detailed review of the score sheets breaking down each caption, highlighting point values, judge thoughts, and even giving insight to some of the tools the judges use to encourage consistency at The Dance Worlds. These…

The International All Star Federation (IASF) recently released its official list of competition divisions for the global All Star community. To provide additional growth opportunity for U.S. All Star cheer teams to participate in these newly developed divisions, the USASF is including 11 provisional international divisions in the USASF Cheer Age Grid for the 2017-18…

Please make sure you are READY and ELIGIBLE to attend sanctioned events this season! The compliance requirements are the same as last season, HOWEVER the system by which we confirm compliance is NEW. Take some time to log into your USASF Member Profile and review your eligibility status. Click here and read “Account Information” for…

The USASF has established six Board level Growth Task Forces to consider barriers to growth for All Star Cheer and to recommend strategies for growth based on research findings. The six Task Forces are: Image and Appearance Cost Rules Scoring Time Commitment DI/DII Click here to learn more.

The USASF Committee for teams with Special Needs has witnessed a significant growth in this division and feels it may be time to explore the idea of a name change that more fully supports our philosophy of promoting independence and celebrating the abilities of the athletes on the cheer and dance floors. Read more and…

Any Team with Special Needs that would like to receive a bid to perform at the 2018 Cheerleading and Dance Worlds may submit a video for qualification. Five (5) Cheer teams and five (5) Dance teams will be selected to receive “At Large” bids to perform at Worlds. Video submission deadline: March 1, 2018. Cheer…

The USASF Rules teams have created a series of questions, quizzes, and clarifications for you to determine how well you know your cheer and dance rules. Subscribe to the USASF Rules updates and receive notifications by email.

The USASF started a Webinar Wednesday Series this month. The first topic was USASF Portal Tips and Tricks and presented on October 4th. The second Webinar Wednesday will be October 18th with the topic being USASF Portal Tips and Tricks: Updates for Owners and Coaches using the USASF Portal. Each topic is discussed during each…

During practice you should stunt on lines. This makes it clear when stunts are moving side to side, which is more noticeable to judges than moving front to back. Not only does it make it clear to you, the coach, it makes it clear to the stunt group without the need for you to say…

David, Sean, and new father Shea discuss Arabians on the 31st edition of Drills=Skills. Be sure to stay to the end for a special guest appearance.

Too often when there is a conversation about adjusting what’s allowed in a level I hear someone say it messes up the progressions. I generally disagree with this statement. To me the progressions are the steps taken to get a skill, a backward roll before a back walkover, a back walkover before a back handspring,…

The first tip is probably going to be the easiest and at the same time the least followed. It is to drink more water. A significant portion of your body is water and you need to refresh and replenish it to keep your body healthy. It will have a positive impact on your life. It…

Improvement is a gradual thing. It’s very unlikely we’re going to find a breakthrough that moves us 10 steps forward. It’s much more likely we’ll have 10 incremental, small improvements that each move us 1 step forward. Over the course of this season my plan is publish 1 thing a week that will help us…

September came, bringing football season and an updated IASF website with it. Here’s the news that came along with it: Pensacola News Journal published ‘It Felt Like I Was the King’: Pensacola Gym Starts Special Needs Cheerleading Team. Express posted Britain’s First NFL Cheerleader Holly Warden: It’s Very Competitive. The Post published Film Review: In…

Focus and Confidence are the topics for the 30th edition of Drills=Skills.

Choreographer Cory Hines joins David, Sean, and Shea to discuss tumbling choreography on the 29th Drills=Skills show.

This is a reminder, don’t forget to enroll by September 8th. Together we will grow All Star!! Learn More | Sign up Now The USASF is dedicated to fostering growth for All Star and has developed a concentrated plan to aid USASF Program owner members to specifically focus on growing the Mini Age market during…

Dear USASF Program Owner and Coach Members: The USASF Rules are created by committees comprised of coaches, event producers, legality officials and rules experts, and represent the most current and authoritative set of safety guidelines for the protection of All Star athletes. By choosing to be members of the USASF, event producers and programs together…

This week’s Drills=Skills is all about technique.