Cheerleaders from all over the globe competed at last weekend’s Cheerleading Worlds competition.  What an exciting event! 

What impressed me, as a sport psychology coach, was the mental toughness I witnessed. Imagine what it is like to perform in front of thousands of people (plus a huge television audience).  Then imagine what it is like to be in a collapsed pyramid in the first moments of a routine or to fall or to land on your face when you are throwing a full.  What would you do?  (more…)

Although recognized as a decidedly American sport, cheerleading is now embraced by many countries across the world – from the Philippines to China, from Ireland to Germany, you can find cheerleaders.  Actually this weekend you can find cheerleaders from all over the world at Orlando Florida, the home of The Cheerleading Worlds. 

The International All Star Federation (IASF) and the United States All Star Federation (USASF) only host two competitions a year – The Cheerleading Worlds and The Dance Worlds. The event producers of premier national championships sponsor their best teams to compete at these competitions. In addition, International cheer and dance teams from all over the world may qualify to compete in the applicable Senior or International divisions/categories. 

As you can imagine, this will be quite an event!  I couldn’t resist so I decided to go.  If you are going, please stop by and say hello! I will be at the Inside Cheerleading Magazine booth in the Milk House.  I will also be at the VIP Party on Friday night and the special fashion party on Sunday night sponsored by GK Elite, Twisted Choreography and Cheer Coach and Advisor Magazine!  

But it’s not all about the partying!  Worlds is important because it recognizes cheerleading as a serious world-wide athletic endeavor. 

Of course I will be posting photos!

This past weekend I was in Halifax, Nova Scotia where I taught some classes at Cheer Expo.  It was fun to meet the cheerleaders, the coaches, the judges, and the other instructors.  

One of the classes I was scheduled to teach was on Mental Toughness and my travel experience provided a personal lesson for me on that very topic.  Here is what happened – what I refer to as my tutorial on the mental game of flying – in an airplane that is. 

I had to get up at 3:30 in the morning on Friday in order to catch a 6 am flight from Boston to New York (JFK airport).  Then I had to leave that terminal, walk about a mile and go to a different terminal where I had to go through security again.  So far, so good – I even got a walk in! 

The flight from New York was direct to Halifax however when we arrived in the skies above Halifax, we were told the weather had affected visibility so we would have to circle for a while until it cleared up.  Well, it didn’t clear up and the plane was running out of fuel so we had to fly to another city to refuel.  Guess where we ended up?  Boston!  (Which is closer than New York.) 

Once in Boston we refueled but we were not allowed to leave the plane.  We were then told the plane would NOT return to Halifax but instead go back to New York!  Of course by the time we got to New York (around 4:30 pm) there were no more flights out to Halifax that day.  We were re-booked for the next day and told we were on our own in terms of getting a hotel and meals. 

I was asked if I wanted to return to Boston for the night and leave the next morning on a direct flight to Halifax.  I agreed.  The flight to Boston was leaving at 6:30 pm but it was at New York’s other airport – La Guardia!  So I had to take a cab and pray that I would get there in time to make the shuttle back to Boston.  I did make it and met a very nice cab driver in the process. My confused husband graciously picked me up at the airport and took me home where I essentially fell asleep while I ate supper. The next morning I flew out of Boston again – but this time arrived in Halifax on schedule. 

Now, what does this have to do with mental toughness?  Well, mental toughness has to do with maintaining a positive attitude in the face of discomfort or adversity. At any time during my adventure, I could have whined and griped or bemoaned my fate or fretted about the situation.  When I found myself beginning to go there, I reminded myself that this was out of my control and a key tenet of mental toughness is – control the controllables!  The only thing I could control was my attitude so I proceeded to view the experience as an interesting adventure and used the time to read and listen to my i-pod. 

For cheerleading, there is so much that is out of your control – especially at a competition! Still, the most important elements are under your control: your poise, your attitude, your desire to perform well, and your commitment to your mental game. 

Oh – my return flight was delayed due to weather…but that’s another story!

Are any of you heading to Cheer Expo this weekend?  If you are, please stop by and say hello! 

Cheer Expo takes place this coming Saturday and Sunday in Halifax, Nova Scotia.  It sounds like it will be a grand time and a busy weekend.  Not only are there the National Cheerleading and Dance Championship Competitions but there is also an Expo/Trade Show for cheerleaders, dancers, gymnasts and of course…their coaches!

It is also a conference for coaches, the athletes and their parents

I will be teaching 9 different workshops over 2 days so I’ll be plenty busy! Here is the line-up of my workshops:

Saturday 10:05

Mental Toughness: The key ingredient to athletic success 

Saturday 12:05

Unlock the Block: How to resolve mental blocks in tumbling 

Saturday 2:05

Sport Psychology: How to use sport psychology techniques to make the most of practice 

Saturday 3:05

The Mental Game of training for competitions 

Saturday 4:05

How to create and use winning visualizations 

Sunday 9:05

Stress Reduction Techniques 

Sunday 11:05

The Mental Game of Safety: How mental game coaching can improve safety 

Sunday 1:05

How to train your brain to get your body to do what you want 

Sunday 3:05

How to identify and change negative thinking

By the way, one of the things I love to do is teach so if you run events like this, please keep me in mind for a keynote speech or a series of workshops.

Anyone who has been to a cheerleading competition knows that sometimes it’s the little things that count.  Very small differences can make the BIG difference between coming in first and placing second. 

Focus is the granddaddy of the small differences. It is the most important mental skill that is associated with winning performances.  Developing this skill is essential – not only for cheerleading, but for any endeavor. That’s why I recommend training for focus at all practice sessions way before the actual competition. 

Here are some reasons why focus is so critical: 

• Focus allows you to connect totally with what you are experiencing
• Focus frees you to perform without being disturbed by distracting thoughts
• You will learn better and faster when you are focused
• Where your focus goes, everything else follows

 If a cheerleader is proficient in his or her skills (technically and physically) and makes a mistake in execution, it is likely due to a focus problem.  Either the cheerleader is focusing inward (with thoughts such as “I hope I can do this…”) which happens with anxiety or is distracted by external factors. 

Managing distraction is a skill that can be developed and that should be developed.  More on that soon! 

Speaking of competitions, have you seen my training program?  It’s called The Mental Game of Cheerleading: Training for Competitions.  It’s a 2-CD audio program with a 40 page workbook.  You can order the digital version for less.  Order either one and I’ll give you a free one-hour consultation!

The lovely young woman you see below is Maddie Gardner, Inside Cheerleading  (iC) Magazine’s December cover girl and winner of Nfinity’s Golden ticket contest!  (Nfinity inserted “golden tickets” into 20 of their shoe boxes and one person was selected to win an all expense paid trip to New York City!) 

As exciting as all this is, it’s clear Maddie has her priorities straight because she started a local fundraising effort called Hope for Haiti in the hope to provide aid to victims of the recent earthquake in Haiti. 100% of all profit made from t-shirt sales at Cheersport (and beyond) will be given to World Vision, an organization that is directly involved withrelief efforts in Haiti.

The brightly clad woman below is Mary Chambliss of Birmingham, Alabama who attended Cheersport to support her son who is on a special needs team with Ace Cheer.

And the good looking fellow in the photo below is Todd Kopp, owner of CoreAthletics.  Todd’s daughter, Kelsie,  is a cheerleader and it was she who inspired him to get involved in the cheer industry.  Todd found his daughter perched on the arm of the couch, trying to do a heel stretch and, worried that she might fall, figured out a way to help her practice that was safe and effective.  This led to the development of the MaeFlyer (seen on either side in the rear of the picture). Kelsie’s balance and leg strength improved so much that she was sticking all her stunts!  More cheerleaders wanted the device and this led to the birth of CoreAthletics!

Todd is quite the innovator and inventer.  His other products include the DeFrogger, the Fast Bands (I have a pair!), the Stunt Strap, and the Full Up Machine.  In this picure, you see Todd helping a cheerleader in using the Full Up which helps cheerleaders to practice that skill in a safe way.

Inside Cheerleading Magazine hosted a special meet and greet session with Olympic Gold medalist Shawn Johnson on Saturday at Cheersport.  News spread quickly that Shawn was going to appear at the Inside Cheerleading (IC) booth and soon there was a long line of eager fans waiting to meet Shawn and get her autograph.

Big news is that Shawn is joining the writing staff at IC!  She will  have her own column called, “Shawn Says” beginning with the next issue! Don’t miss it – subscribe now!  (And you’ll be able to see my column, too – Minda Games!)

Here’s a glimpse of the long line of Shawn Johnson fans waiting to meet the Olympic champ!

Imagine about 850 cheerleading teams gathered in one place!  Add to that parents, extended family, friends, coaches, and vendors and you end up with a HUGE segment of humanity assembled in the Georgia World congress Center in Atlanta for Cheersport’s annual national competition.

This was too good to pass up so I made my way to Atlanta last week (February 5 – 7) to immerse myself in the world of cheerleading.

The Georgia World Congress Center is a mammoth structure which seems the size of a small city.  It has numerous levels and wings which made me wish I had a GPS to help me navigate its many nooks and crannies!

On Friday, February 5th, cheerleading teams arrived to assess the scene and to engage in practice sessions.  Many found the Cheer Mall to snap up some eye glitter or to try on Nfinity’s latest cheer shoe – the Phoenix.  Many experiemented with Core Athletics amazing products such as the Maeflyer, the stunt strap, or the Full Up machine.  The sense of excitement permeated the air as cheer teams anticipated the competitions to be held the next day, Saturday.

Friday night everyone headed over to the Georgia Dome for a special event – A Celebration of Hope and Cheer.  The evening was dedicated to the memory of cheerleader Hope Stout, who lost her battle with cancer in 2004, but whose legacy and spirit of giving remains strong through the March Forth with Hope Foundation. Cheersport staff led the audience in a cheer for HOPE in an attempt to break the world record for the largest group cheer (heretofore held by China).  The photo below shows the beginning of the program.

Helpng to kick off the weekend was Olympic Gold medalist Shawn Johnson who also was one of the judges in a So-You-Think-You-Can-Tumble contest.  Ms. Johnson was duly impressed with the professionalism and skill of the cheerleaders who participated in the event. Prior to the contest, a Special Needs Team performed for the big crowd who appreciated the team’s enthusiastic performance.  Ms. Johnson gave each team member a plaque to commemorate the event.

The evening ended with hundreds of cheerleaders performing the newly famous “Pants on the Ground” dance…(“pants on the ground…looking like a fool with your pants on the gorund.”) See the dancers below.

The grand finale was the explosion of confetti which showered on the crowd.

 

 

A cheerleading competition has much to offer.  There are, of course, the performances of the cheerleaders (most important!) but then there are the vendors and special guests, too.  Here are three images from the Rhode Island Convention Center from the weekend of January 30 – 31st.

The first photo is Norma Pimenta, author of the book – Smiling Eyes – A Cheerleading Coach’s Personal Victory. Norma’s book tells the tale of her recovery from a tragic accident and how being a cheer coach helped inspire her to move forward with grace and courage. You can get Norma’s book from Amazon or from her site

That handsome fellow below is James Kersey, Cheerleading Brand Manager for Nfinity shoes, showing off their newest cheerleading shoe, the Phoenix!

The T-shirt below was on display at a vendor’s booth.  As I was taking the picture, two cheerleaders walked past, noticed the shirt and said they had to get one for their mothers.  Yes, cheerleading can be expensive but loving parents are willing to make the invesment!