by MeMeME

Created on: March 16, 2009   Last Updated: March 21, 2009

Cheerleading is exciting, glamorous, and a great way to keep fit. It allows the opportunity for travel and meeting tons of new people. But what do you do if there are no cheerleading squads local to you, or there are existing squads, but none of which meet your expectations or experience level? Start your own cheerleading squad!

First off, determine whether you will be a competitive or auxiliary cheerleading squad. Competitive, or "all-star", teams work with the goal of competing in and winning local, regional, and national cheerleading competitions. Auxiliary, or traditional, squads perform for show, often cheering for a semi-pro or little league sports team; traditional squads bring entertainment to sporting events. If you want to start a traditional squad, contact your local semi-pro or little league team head coaches, and simply ask if they'd like to have a cheerleading squad - 9 times out of 10, you will get an enthusiastic "yes!".

After you figure out your team's structure, decide on your squad's name, colors, and regulations. These will likely be decided for you if you're a traditional squad. For all-star squads, your regulations will be especially important, and will govern practice times and locations, uniform and travel costs, tryout guidelines and eligibility, insurance policies, team fees, community involvement and philanthropy, and discipline.

A very important, but often overlooked, thing to do when starting a cheerleading squad is establishing a bank account to keep track of your squad's funds. It is extremely important that you not mix the squad's funds with your personal funds- I cannot recount how many times I have seen squads fall apart because of failure to separate funds. If you don't want to go to your bank and set up another account (or if they require a business license to do so), try a pre-paid account such as Netspend- it works just like a bank account, and will provide you with a Visa debit card to buy the things your team needs.

Another essential thing to consider is where your team will practice. Typically, it will be a gym or gymnastics center, but if your team does not do stunts, you may want to look into community recreation centers, dance studios, or even a spacious backyard. For all-star squads, this must be a space with adequate padding for stunting and tumbling practice, as well as a regulation-size floor mat to practice competition routines. For traditional squads, you can likely use your sports team's gym or practice space-

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