Q&A for How to Make the Middle School Cheer Squad

Not in middle school. The main concern for a cheerleader is how encouraging you are, but with your size, you will be a good flyer and easy to put into stunts.

You could go to your local cheer gym and get a few private lessons -- this will bring you up to speed quickly. Or, get a friend or family member who is good at cheer to help you. Watch YouTube videos to help you perfect your moves too.

Stretch every day, using quality stretch routines. To get a higher jump, jump on a trampoline or just jump around.

Just keep stretching and practicing. Your body appearance does not matter, especially when you have the skills when doing anything. Be confident about yourself and keep trying!

Start with really intense workouts and lots of endurance workouts too. Take a private lesson at a cheer gym and/or a gymnastics/tumbling class. Learn some cheer and jumps every day. Do your best and accept that there is always next time if this time doesn't work out -- at least you tried.

At most schools, the coach doesn't judge. The coach is looking at what is best for their team, not who they like and don't. However, if you really think that the coach has it in for you, it's time for a talk with the coach, to ask what you've done wrong or could improve on. If it helps, bring a friend or parent along to discuss the matter.

Keep your head held high and keep practicing. Take classes at a cheer gym. It's not the end of the world if you don't make the team. Go get some ice cream or your favorite food as a reward for all your hard work.

You're most likely going to be a flyer. If that's how most of the girls are at your school, though, it will probably just come down to who is the most flexible, has the most body control, and can be the tightest in the air. If you're aiming to be a flyer, practice balance by standing on soup cans, practice flexibility by stretching a lot, and practice tumbling. If you're aiming for a base or back spot, go ahead and practice your upper body strength, but flexibility and tumbling is a good skill to have for any cheerleader.

You might be a flyer, since you're so little. It really just depends on your style, experience, and maybe even the people in your stunt group. After all, it is your Coach's decision.

The front and back walkovers are helpful.

You shouldn't be afraid! Just trust yourself. Practice hard and often to make sure that you memorize the routines fully. Don't be afraid to ask other people on your team for help, either with the routine or the memorization.

Learn your splits. If you have your splits you can toe touch and herkie, also a heel stretch is learned like that. Once you have your splits, bend your back leg up and get your toes to your head without leaning back. Then just lower yourself down further and further over time.

You will almost certainly have to tumble at some point.

Practice, stretch, and repeat. You should be able to learn and have everything down super quickly because it shows the coaches a lot.

Cheer shoes help with stunting a lot and tumbling a bit. Wearing your cheer shoes will show that you are better prepared.

Practice, remember to be sharp, loud, and smile. Take deep breaths and stay calm throughout your tryout.

You will most likely need to be able to do a back handspring, but not necessarily. You can ask the coach ahead of time what they expect.

You can ask a family member or another member on the squad for help. Keep practicing, and you will be able to do a split and a cartwheel before you know it.

You can check with the coach ahead of time, because some may require that you do a backflip and others may not.

In high school cheer a base or back spot. In all-star cheerleading, most likely a back spot.

You should stretch every single day. If you really want to improve, you have to put in the time. Try dance or gymnastics to help you improve your flexibility as well.

Take a deep breath and count to ten. Tell yourself: "I can do it!"

Make sure you warm up properly and then stretch. Do this as often as you can.

I'm sure not EVERYONE will have a back handspring, so you won't be alone. Signing up for lessons is great if possible, but you can also practice at home. Improving on everything you can and just do your best.

I suggest reading through wikiHow's article on becoming flexible. It includes several stretches that will help you become more flexible over time.

It depends on the size and abilities of the other girls in your squad. The coach will evaluate your skills and the needs of the team and decide where to place you.

Every school is different, but in my experience, we had to learn a dance and cheer, but not a full routine. Your coaches will teach you. Just listen, learn, and practice at home. Make sure to do everything with a smile, it definitely helps.

Just be willing to work hard. Speak to a few of the girls on the squad and ask for their advice.

Being flexible would help, but you can keep practicing until you are more flexible.

A flyer is a person who is on top of the pyramids and gets thrown into the air and does a lot of tricks.