Hosting Your Own Competition-Fundraiser

Hosting your own youth cheer competition can be a great fundraiser. If its done right it can generate a lot of money for your squad or organization. The only down side is it's sooo much work. You need to have a huge support system from your organization and parents. They need to be behind you 100%. They all are going to have to dedicate their time and energy and be committed 100%. If you have that support it is possible.
First thing you need to do is devise a plan and a time frame. In my experience you will need at least a year to get everything together. You will need to get the appropriate paper work, such as waivers, codes of conduct for squads and coaches, lunch forms(so you need to decide on a menu), rules and regulations, and age and/or grade forms(coaches need to collect birth certificates). Put it all in a packet for each squad participating and hand it out 2 to 3 months prior to the competition so all coaches have time to prepare. You will need to decide on maybe having some vendors to sell, teddy bears, jewelry, t-shirts, ect... You will also need to find some judges. I have found college cheerleaders are O.K. but prefer their dance instructors and coaches. If the college cheerleaders can put on a performance that would be great, It is inspiring for those young girls to watch what they could become with hard work and determination. You can enlist some H.S. cheerleaders to volunteer to keep the crowd and cheerleaders pumped up and be in charge of handing out the spirit stick to the squad with the most spirit.
One other thing to remember is you are only one person and you can't do everything. Accept as much help as you can. This can be a extremely stressful time and there will be many ups and downs. No body is perfect and GOOD LUCK!!!

We Coach Youth Sports