Cheerleading Information

Introduction

We are pleased that your daughter or son has chosen to participate in our cheerleading clinic and tryouts for East County Youth Football. It will be a commitment that requires 100% from both yourself as a parent, and your daughter. This is ECYF's 17th year, and we are looking forward to another positive and exciting year for all.

Our teams can consist of a minimum of at least 10 individuals and no more than 20 per squad. The size of the squads will be determined by the number of sign-ups, ability of the girls, experience, age level, and the natural scoring break-down at tryouts. Squad levels and ages are:

** If your daughter has had any cheer or dance experience, she may want to tryout for the higher of the two age levels that she is eligible to cheer. Please note that if she does not make that team that there is no guarantee that she will be placed on another team. ECYF has grown tremendously, and will not be in the position of moving girls from team to team as in previous years. No skipping of teams will be allowed for the 2008 tryout.

If you or your daughter is having trouble in knowing which team to tryout for, talk to the coordinators, or at the first day of clinic watch the tryout routines and then make a decision. You have until the beginning of tryout Wednesday of clinic week to make your final decision as to the team that they want to tryout for.

Clinic Week

Our clinic dates will be TBD. Tryouts will be held on Saturday, April 6, 2008. Our clinic times will be 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm. These times enable all of our coaches to attend and for the clinic to still have some light. Our clinic will be held at Liberty High School field.

** There will be a mandatory parents meeting the first evening of clinic at 6:00 pm in the bleachers at Liberty High School Field. This is MANDATORY for one parent or representative to attend. We will be taking attendance. Girls who's parents attend will receive 25 points. These points will be figured into their week long clinic scores. We put a lot of emphasis on this meeting as you can see with the point value. We will also be going over the commitment and answer questions that you may have.

The girls will be learning a cheer routine, and a dance routine that will be 1 1/2 in length at the clinic. They will learn their dance on Monday, Cheer on Tuesday, and review the two routines for the rest of the week. A mock judging will be on Friday.

1. Girls must attend all clinic days (unless special arrangements are made with the cheer coordinators)
2. Girls must wear loose fitting shorts, sweats, etc. No Jean shorts, jean pants, short tank tops or spaghetti strap shirts are allowed. (this is for their safety)
3. All girls need to wear their hair up and out of their face in a ponytail or French braid. Please wear a rubber band. Scrunchies tend to fall out. No clips, hair claws or barrettes are allowed.
4. No make-up, cover-up, mascara, lipstick, lip gloss, fingernail polish, artificial nails, or French manicures will be allowed.
5. No jewelry is to be worn to clinic. This includes necklaces, rings, bracelets, watches, earrings, studs, pins or hair barrettes. This is for their safety and in case these items get lost or broken. Every year girls get deducted points for wearing jewelry. Do not get your daughters' ears pierced right before clinic. The will be required to remove all stud earrings, NO EXCEPTIONS.
6. Girls will be given a name tag on the first day of clinic. This name tag needs to be worn everyday. It is the girls responsibility to keep and wear this tag or a made tag. If you lose it, you need to make your own name tag. Girls will be docked points for not wearing name tags.
7. There will be no talking or visiting during the clinic, but girls should feel free to ask any questions that they may have about their routines.
8. There is to be no gum or candy, or meals allowed at the clinic. We suggest that you do bring water or juice for their break time.
9. Girls will remain with their group until excused each night.
10. Team spirit and sportsmanship will be expected on and off the clinic field. There will be no tearing down of other girls or other teams at our clinic. This offense will be dwelt with a tremendous deduction in points.
11. Girls must arrive and be picked up on time or they will be docked points.
12. No horse play or visiting with friends are allowed at the clinic. Please refrain from these type of activities until break time or until after clinic. We have a lot to accomplish and there is little room for interruptions. This includes not bringing friends or boyfriends to clinic to watch. Parents are welcome to observe.
13. Filming of routines performed by the Junior Coaches will only take place on Tuesday and Wednesday night at 5:30 pm.
14. The clinic staff will be treated with respect at all times. This includes our Junior Coaches. They have volunteered their time, so please respect them. Attitude is an important part of the makeup of the total clinic points. This lets us know how serious that the girls are about cheerleading on our teams, and how that the girls will be at future practices.
15. Points will be given by the clinic staff for following the above rules throughout the clinic week.

Clinic Points Breakdown

1. Attitude: 10 points per day
2. Grooming: 5 points per day
3. Attendance: 5 points per day
4. Parent Meeting: 25 points

** Each girl can accumulate up to a possible total of 125 points for the clinic week. By doing this we feel that we can get an idea of just how responsible and committed that the girls and their parents are, if actually chosen to be an ECYF Cheerleader. This rewards the girls who are consistent and follow the guidelines. These accumulated clinic points will be added to the coaches' recommendation scores, and the tryout totals that each girl receives from the judges at the tryout. Any ties will be broken by the judges review in the showmanship category.

Total points from each judge will be as follows:

1. Grooming: Hair, Neatness and Uniformity: 0 - 10 points
2. Cheer: Sharpness, Claps, Jumps, Voice Volume, and Execution of Cheer and Arm Movements: 0 - 25 points
3. Dance: Timing, Kicks, Toes Pointed, Height of Kicks, Turns, Knowledge of Routine, and Execution of Routine: 0 - 25 points
4. Showmanship: Personality, Confidence, Smile, Eye Contact, Enthusiasm, Exit, Recovery, Poise and Posture: 0 - 30 points
5. Tumbling Skills: 0 - 5 points
6. Dance Choreography Part of Routine: 0 - 5 points

Coaches Recommendation Form

Each girl will have a coaches recommendation form filled out on them. IF a girl is signing up, and has been a previous ECYF cheerleader, her previous years coach will fill out the form on areas such as:

1. Attendance at practice and games
2. Tardy to practices, games and competitions
3. Attitude to coaches and team members
4. Team spirit and good sportsmanship
5. Game participation, spirit, halftimes, participation at game and time-outs
6. Parents participation and support of team and coaches

Total amount that any girl can receive is 50 points. If a girl is a new ECYF cheerleader candidate, they will receive the full 50 points automatically. This form is to be a follow up to the previous season. This allows us to see that there is a commitment and consistency, and to reward the girls for their hard work. The form is meant for positive reinforcement. If a girl has cheered for another city, we will be contacting that city for the coaches' recommendation.

** NOTE: At clinic week there are no restrooms available. We cannot be responsible for taking girls to another location to use restrooms.

Tryouts

On Saturday, April 26, 2008, we will be holding tryouts which begin at 8:30 am with the Midget Team. We will let you know what location and the exact tryout times at the parent meeting on the first night of clinic. Each girl will draw a number before she tries out and it will be written down by the coaches for calculations. When each girl has finished performing her routine, she is required to stay until her entire group is finished. This is in case the girl is called back by the judges. In the past, girls have left early, and it has hurt their chances of making the team. We calculate the higher of the two scores (in the case that there is a call back). All candidates will tryout in pairs. The process of pairing will be determined by the coordinators and coaches by the Thursday night of clinic.

We will be posting the teams at our ECYF Lions website (www.ecyflions.com) and at Liberty Field by Sunday at 12:00 pm. This list will be by the girls' last names. The extra time taken before posting the names allows us to check the scores thoroughly before we post the teams. Also, posted on the list will be the designated uniform fitting times, and any other details needed by the girls. If a girl can potentially be moved down to another team, please be sure to check all of the team lists. If you have a question about your daughter's score, you can call Koren Summers at 925-516-7372 and schedule an appointment to go over the scores. Koren will only be able to discuss your daughter's scores, as all other scores are confidential. Please do not call any of the coaches as they will not be able to discuss the scores with you.

Uniform Fittings

The ECYF uniform fittings will be on the Thursday night following tryouts, TBD,  starting at 5:00 pm for those girls chosen to be ECYF Cheerleaders. We will give you specific arrival times for each team. This information will be posted when the girls' names who have made the teams are posted. The fitting will start with Junior Pee Wee team, and then be staggered by team throughout the evening, ending with the Midget team no later than 8:30 pm.

Every girl needs to be present at the uniform fitting, because their uniform is sized specifically for each girl, and there will be no other fitting date. There are no exceptions to attending the fitting, so plan for this date. We know that this is a busy week, but we feel that by having the fitting on a Friday night, that we can get everything taken care of within a week of tryouts and not cut in to another weekend. In the past, some girls were unable to come to a fitting, and it affected how their uniform fitted. Please plan ahead now.

One parent must come to the fitting to sign uniform forms, collect paper work, and to pay a down payment of $250.00 that same day. This fee is due for all girls whether they are a returnee or not. This is the down payment for the girls' uniform package. Every year there are a few who do not come or forget their down payment. This holds up our uniform order, which only delays our delivery of uniforms in time for the season. Be prepared for the cost, and begin budgeting for this now.

** Each girl needs to wear a swimsuit , and wear 2 pairs of socks for the shoe fitting. The items the girls will be keeping this year are:

1. Vest
2. Skirts
3. Briefs
4. Warm-ups
5. Bags

If you are a returnee bring the items you will be using for the upcoming year to fittings for approval of condition. If you have outgrown items, you can sell these to the new cheerleaders. Bring them to the earlier uniform fitting time so that new parents may have the option to purchase these items.

Payment Plan

First payment of $250.00 is due at uniform fittings on TBD. The second payment will be due on TBD. The final payment is due TBD. This spreads out the cost over a 3 month period. Along with collecting uniform fees, we will be collecting our Great America and Marine World competition fees, end of year trophy and banquet fees, and participation and insurance fees. The collecting of all fees ahead, and letting you know

East County Cheer Tryouts

East County Cheer Tryouts When: Saturday, April 26, 2008 Where: Liberty High School   2nd Street, Brentwood, CA   Cheer tryouts being held in the 'Old Gym' Tryout Times: Junior Pee Wee Arrive by: 8:00 AM, Tryouts begin at 8:30 AM Pee Wee Arrive by: 10:00 AM, Tryouts begin at 10:30 AM Junior Midget Arrive by: 12:00 Noon, Tryouts begin at 12:30 PM Midget Arrive by: 1:15 PM, Tryouts begin at 1:30 PM Additional Details: What to wear: Be sure to wear any type and color of shorts, skorts or capri. Shirts need to be tucked in if possible. Clean shoes, socks and hair up and out of your face. You can wear any of the T-Shirts and shorts we sold this week, or any other type of cheer or plain shirts you have. Guidelines: Arrive 30 minutes before your tryout time. Each team should take approximately 1 1/2 to 2 hours. No Eating, smoking or roaming around school property. This is a closed tryout. Tryout Results: The 2008 cheerleader names will be posted on the East County Web site: www.ecyflions.com (click here to see the results...) and at Liberty Field on the ticket booth by 12:00 Noon on Sunday, April 27, 2008. Be sure to check all levels you are eligible to cheer on. Uniform Fittings: Uniform fittings will start at 4:30 PM on TBD at Liberty High School cafeteria at the front of the school by the front circle driveway by the Lion Statue. Check list for exact times and locations for your team.