Esperanza High School 2018 – 2019 Cheerleading Handbook
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Esperanza High School 2018 – 2019 Cheerleading Handbook The Esperanza High School Cheer Squad is one of the best cheerleading programs in the state of California. It is a privilege to be a part of this program, and it should not be taken lightly. The EHS Cheerleading program has a legacy of pride, commitment, and accomplishments (including many local, state, and national championships). As a member, you will become a part of that legacy and have a responsibility to maintain it. This program is very proud of its past accomplishments and has very high expectations for its future. The Esperanza High School Cheerleading program will build and nurture character, integrity, diligence, and honesty in every student-athlete. The program will provide the student-athlete with the necessary preparation and coaching to win not only on the competition floor and in the classroom, but in life as well. As a member of this program, student-athletes will represent Esperanza High School and the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District in everything they do. Therefore, members will be held to a higher standard of conduct than other students. Your role will include, but is not limited to, the following: 1) Promoting school spirit & Aztec Pride at Esperanza High School 2) Supporting Esperanza athletics by cheering at sporting events 3) Performing at pep rallies, games, and special events 4) Being a positive leader on campus and serving the school and community 5) Representing Esperanza High School at cheerleading competitions and other events Unlike most other sports/activities, cheerleading is a year-long commitment. The cheerleading season begins in April, directly following tryouts, and concludes the subsequent March. Upon joining the cheerleading program, you are acknowledging the vast commitments required of both the athlete and the parents/guardians to the program. Below is a summary of the season: 1) April – Mid June: Athletes will be attending after school/night practices, fundraising events, and team bonding events. 2) Mid June – August: Athletes will be attending team practices, camps, fundraising events, and team bonding events. 3) September – October/November: Teams will be perfecting their competition routines, cheering at football games, and wrapping up the majority of their fundraising events. 4) November: Competition season begins 5) January: Basketball season begins 6) February : Competition season ends; 2018 – 2019 cheerleading season ends This handbook will provide you with a more in-depth overview of the activities, responsibilities, and expectations of being a member of this program. Be sure that both athlete and parents/guardians read through and understand the entire handbook. MANDATORY CHEER SQUAD EVENTS Any event schedule 7 days in advance will be consider mandatory. Practices/Choreography. ALL practices are mandatory. It is your responsibility to know the practice schedule and any changes by reading each week’s Pep Talk, any email updates, checking the program calendar, and signing up for the Remind 101 texts. Football Games. Attendance at all scheduled football games is mandatory. Football season begins in late August/early September and may continue through November or December. Varsity Cheer will perform at every Varsity football game. There will be a mandatory team dinner before every Friday Varsity home game and the Homecoming Game. Keep in mind that Varsity Cheer will perform at CIF playoff games, as well. Playoff schedules and locations may not be released until the weekend before playoffs begin. Football post-season games may take place during Thanksgiving week and may extend through December. JV Cheer will perform at every home Freshman/JV football game, the Varsity Homecoming game, and the Varsity “Jr. Aztecs” game. JV Cheer will attend the mandatory team dinner before the Homecoming game. Basketball Games. Attendance at all scheduled basketball games is mandatory. Basketball season begins in January and may continue through March. Varsity Cheer will perform at every boys’ Varsity basketball game. They may also perform at select girls’ Varsity basketball games. Keep in mind that Varsity Cheer will perform at boys’ CIF playoff games, as well. Playoff schedules and locations may not be released until the weekend before playoffs begin. Basketball post- season may extend through March. JV Cheer will perform at select home boys’ Freshman/JV and girls’ Varsity basketball games. JV Cheer will also perform at the Varsity “Jr. Aztecs” game. Keep in mind that JV Cheer will perform at some girls’ home games, as well. Playoff schedules and locations may not be released until the weekend before playoffs begin. Basketball post-season may extend through March. School Pep Rallies. Attendance at all school rallies is mandatory. 1. Homecoming Rally: All teams perform 2. Beat YL Rally: Performances TBD 3. Clash of the Classes Rally: Performances TBD 4. Prom Rally: Performances TBD 5. Other Rallies: Performances TBD Competitions, Showcases, Performances. Attendance at all competitions, showcases, and performances is mandatory. 1. Coaches make the final decision on the competition team placements and there is no option to opt out. (At the coaches’ discretion, athletes may be placed on a different competition team than their game team.) Coaches may make adjustments and move an athlete to another team at any time throughout the season. Typically, competition season begins in November and concludes in February. Competitions will always take place on weekends and possibly holidays. (Exceptions: USA Nationals will begin on a Friday) 2. Fundraisers. Some fundraising events are designated to fund the general program account, and some events are designated to fund individual athlete’s accounts. Participation in all fundraising events is strongly encourage, athlete attendance is mandatory. 3. Other Events. Additional school events may come up throughout the season. Everyone will be notified by the Pep Squad Advisor of any additional events. Any School event with 3 days’ notice is mandatory. COMMUNICATION ANY and ALL communication concerning your athlete, practices, games, competitions, performances, rallies, fundraiser meet times, etc. should be addressed directly to Tracy Brooks, the Advisor/Head Coach ONLY. Do not contact the other coaches with any concerns or issues. All communication must go through the Advisor. The Advisor will then notify the coaches if necessary. If you have any questions regarding program donations, sponsorships, fundraising, and volunteer opportunities, please contact the Booster President. You may contact Coach David via phone/text with any urgent topics or concerns. Athletes are not permitted to contact any coach via phone/text. If athletes have any questions, they may either email Coach David, send a message on their team’s GroupMe account, or send a private message via GroupMe (described below). David Ribadeneira Email: [email protected] David Ribadeneira Phone: 714-944-2044 Athlete Communication. In order to help prepare our student-athletes for life beyond the cheerleading program and high school, constant communication between the coaching staff and athletes is vital. We encourage all the athletes to approach the coaching staff with questions and/or conflicts that may arise throughout the season. Pep Talk. Every Sunday, an email will be sent out to all parents and athletes with all of the information regarding the week's activities including: practices, games, fundraisers, competitions, and any other events. If any changes are made for that week, an updated email or Remind 101 update will be sent out. Shutterfly. The EHS Pep Squad has a Shutterfly page. The page contains calendars, team rosters, and pictures/videos. After signing up for the page, members will have access to the program calendar which will have all practice and event information that was provided in that week’s Pep Talk. Members are also able to and are encouraged to upload any photos or videos to the site after every event (games, competitions, fundraisers, etc.). You will receive an email with an invitation to the site. After receiving the email, just follow the directions and sign up for a Shutterfly account. After this, you will have access to the private site and will also be emailed event reminders 24 hours in advance based on what is on the calendar. (You can always go to your settings and disable event reminders if you wish.) It is strongly recommended that both parents and athletes download the “Shutterfly Share Sites” app on your phones. (Keep in mind there is a regular Shutterfly app and a separate Shutterfly Share Sites app. Be sure to download the Shutterfly Share Sites app.) The app is free and will allow you to sync the EHS Pep Squad calendar with the calendar on your phone. After downloading the app and logging in, go to "Calendar". At the bottom of the screen there will be an option to add the schedule to your phone's calendar. *The Shutterfly page is a private site. Only EHS Pep Squad members and parents will have access to the site. So uploaded pictures/videos, rosters, and the calendar cannot be viewed by the public. Remind 101 will be used to send out short reminders and updates to both the athletes and parents in the form of a text message. No one will be able to respond to this text message and no phone numbers are displayed. Please make sure that you and your athlete sign up for the appropriate Remind 101 update by doing the following: Everyone text to this number: 81010 Varsity Cheer Athletes text this message: @ehsvch Varsity Cheer Parents text this message: @ gg6479 JV Cheer Athletes text this message: @ g9a3c3 JV Cheer Parents text this message: @ 7933e7 You do not need to download an app to receive the Remind 101 texts. GroupMe. Must download app, group code will be given at practice. GroupMe is a free app for group text messaging. Each team will have its own GroupMe account for which each athlete will need to sign up.