Kisd Cheerleader Tryout Handbook

Cheer Sponsor/ KISD INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL CHEERLEADER/MASCOT Administrator TRYOUT GUIDELINES Use Only

SELECTION PROCEDURES

The procedures for selection of KISD cheerleaders are based on the information in the cheerleader constitution and the guidelines in this handbook.

Cheerleader tryouts and elections will be held during the 5th and 6th six weeks of the school year. The date will not be during the week of the STAAR testing.

TRYOUT GUIDELINES

Each sponsor will be responsible for the preparation and distribution of a packet of information to each candidate. This information will include tryout procedures, tryout dates/times, tryout attire, and cheerleader expenses. The building principal/administrative designee must approve this information prior to its distribution. Each candidate and his/her parent(s)/guardian(s) must sign a form stating that they understand and will comply with all information in the packet before the student is allowed to participate in the tryout process. At the discretion of the campus administration, each candidate and/or parent(s)/guardian(s)/adult designee must attend a mandatory tryout informational meeting.

Any change in the procedures outlined in this document requires the principal’s or administrative designee’s approval.

Cheerleaders shall be selected by a scoring method that assigns a weight of 100% to the ratings given by a panel of judges.

Students wishing to tryout for the cheerleading squad or mascot must return a completed application and parent/guardian permission form to the team sponsor by a date specified by the campus.

At the time of tryouts, a cheerleader or mascot candidate must currently be a resident of the attendance zone in which the school for which the student is trying out is located, or have an approved transfer from the office of school administration to attend that school for the next school year.

The mascot shall be enrolled in the sixth or seventh grade at the time of election, however, in the event there are no eligible seventh grade mascot candidates, sixth grade students would be allowed to try out for mascot.

All candidates must attend cheerleader clinic and tryouts in order to try out.

 Any student who is currently ineligible as per the “no pass-no play” rule will be considered eligible to attend the judging activity and the clinic prior to the judging activities providing that all other tryout qualifications are met.

 Any student who is currently in the DAEP (district alternative education program) will be considered eligible to attend the judging activity providing all other tryout qualifications are met but will not be eligible to attend the clinic. It will be the responsibility of the student to learn the tryout routines on his/her own prior to the tryout.

1 Revised 5/22/16  Absences from clinic/tryouts due to illness or extenuating circumstances must be addressed with the sponsor/administration in advance.

 A candidate with a medical excuse should consult the sponsor and school administration if he/she is physically disabled at the time of tryouts.

Each campus sponsor and principal will establish a uniform tryout outfit. Every item of clothing should be carefully considered to insure equity, affordability, and safety for the students during the tryout procedures.

CHEERLEADING SQUADS

In the Klein ISD the permitted range for the number of cheerleaders on an intermediate school squad is a combined total of a minimum of twelve (12) and a maximum of sixteen (16). The exact number will be determined by the building principal. There will be an equal number from each of the two grade levels unless there is a tie. In the case of a tie, rules for handling the tie as outlined in these guidelines are to be followed.

JUDGING CRITERIA FOR INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL CHEERLEADERS

Total Points – 150

 Group Chant o Motion Technique (sharp, clean, precise) 10 points o Timing 10 points o Showmanship (projection, confidence) 10 points

 Dance o Technique (sharp, clean, precise) 10 points o Timing 10 points o Projection/Showmanship 10 points

 Entrance o Spirit and Enthusiasm 10 points o Tumbling (difficulty and execution) 10 points

 Jumps o Toe Touch (execution and technique) 10 points o Jump of Choice (execution and technique) 10 points

 Individual Cheer o Voice Control (loud, clear, expressive) 10 points o Showmanship (projection, confidence) 10 points o Standing Tumbling (execution, difficulty, incorporation) 10 points o Memory 10 points o Motion Technique (sharp, clean, precise) 10 points

JUDGING CRITERIA FOR INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL MASCOT

Total Points – 60

2 Revised 5/22/16  Entrance o Spirit 5 points o Character Development 5 points

 Skit o Crowd Appeal 5 points o Spirit 5 points o Execution with use of props 5 points o Originality 5 points o Creativity 5 points o Coordination and Precision 5 points o Showmanship 5 points  Game-day Challenge o Appropriate Response 5 points o Creativity 5 points o Showmanship 5 points

JUDGES

All candidates will be screened by professional judges who are not employees of KISD. Every attempt will be made to secure five judges and to insure minority and gender representation. A minimum of three judges will be required to hold the tryout.

Judges will be selected from NCA, UCA, other professional cheerleading organizations, or universities. Judges should not be hired if they have tutored or taught any cheerleader candidate during the school year. Every attempt should be made to hire judges who have not worked with KISD students. However, with the hundreds of camps in the state of Texas, attended by thousands of cheerleaders and taught by hundreds of instructors, it may be possible at some time that a member of the judging panel may have had some contact with a candidate who is trying out.

Professional judges with outstanding credentials and references will be hired for all tryouts. They will be instructed to judge the candidates based only on the mastery of the skills that they see demonstrated during the tryouts.

PANEL JUDGES

Panel tryouts will be closed to everyone except judges, cheer sponsors, campus administrators and their adult designees. There will be no students, parents, or existing cheerleaders in the tryout room/area, nor will they be involved in the collection or tabulation of scores. Any deviation by the candidates from the tryout requirements may result in their disqualification.

TABULATION OF SCORES

Each school will use an Excel spreadsheet with the formulas already inserted for the tabulation of scores. It will be the responsibility of the campus administrator/designee to enter the students’ names and tryout numbers on this spreadsheet. All judges’ scores must be verified by two administrative adult designees and the score sheets initialed prior to entering the scores in to the spreadsheet. At the completion of the tryouts, candidates will be ranked from high to low and the appropriate number selected for each squad.

3 Revised 5/22/16  Each judge may award up to150 points total per cheerleading candidate and 60 points per mascot candidate. Judges will be asked to circle the number of points they wish to award to each candidate in each category. Pen must be used and judges are to “X” out and initial any changes.

 Olympic scoring will be used. The high and low judges’ scores will be dropped and the remaining scores will be totaled. This number will count 100%.

 In the event there are only three or four judges, all scores will be totaled.

 Judges will be asked to stay on site until after computations are completed.

EXCEPTIONS

In the case of a tie for the last cheerleading position at a grade level, each candidate will be awarded a position on that squad.

In the case of a physical injury prior to the tryout, the principal/administrative designee must be notified for permission to deviate from the standardized tryout procedures. Video film may only be used with administrative approval and only in the case of an injury that impairs a student from participating in a “specific skill” of the tryout. If video film is used, only a small segment of the film that shows the “specific skill” done by the student prior to the tryout may be judged.

Video film may not be used showing the individual performing in a competition setting, All- Stars, Nationals or in any other event while in uniform. A medical doctor’s note indicating the specific injury and any limitations to the specific skill the student is incapable of performing will be required prior to video use. The video must be within the current school year.

VIDEO FILM GUIDELINE USAGE

Sponsors will make these guidelines available to judges if a video is used for the tryout:

 The judges shall be instructed to consider absence of pressure, lack of physical/respiratory exertion, and vocal ability. The candidate may only use a dead floor when performing specific skills on video. No spotter may be utilized.

 The candidate must perform in person or by video each individual “specific skill” required in the tryout to receive credit/points.

NOTIFICATION

After all tryout scores are tabulated and confirmed by the principal and sponsor, the candidates will be notified of the tryout results at the discretion of the campus administration as outlined in the candidates’ tryout packets.

PARENT REQUEST FOR SCORES

Parents may request to see their own child’s score from the principal or his/her administrative designee. By law, all other student scores are protected and cannot be shared with anyone except the sponsor, principal, or principal administrative designee.

REPLACEMENTS

4 Revised 5/22/16 If a member of the cheerleading squad moves or there is an opening for any reason, the principal/administrative designee and sponsor may fill the opening based on the tryout rank scores. Any replacement will take place on or before the first day of the school year and is at the discretion of the principal/administrative designee and the sponsor.

5 Revised 5/22/16