DJF Cheerleading

DUNEDIN JR. FALCONS

CHEERLEADING INFORMATION

2014 Cheerleading Competitions

October 19 - Best of the Bay - Moved to Winter Haven

October 26 - Gulf Coast Cheer Classic - Lakeland Civic Center

November 2 - Champion Cheer Central - Tampa State Fairgrounds

November 23 - SYFC Cheer Competition - East Lake HS

Tracy Urello, DJF Vice President - tuvpdjf@tampabay.rr.com

We're looking forward to the 2014 Dunedin Jr. Falcon Cheerleading season! This is a huge commitment you and your child are about to undertake. Our goal is to make your season with the Falcons a fun-filled learning experience.

Participating in cheerleading is a big commitment by both cheerleader and parent. Your cheerleader is part of a team and is making the commitment to herself and her teammates. Parents and Cheerleaders will be asked to sign a participation contract so that they understand the commitment and rules of our organization.

Starting Date:

The season will start on Monday, July 21st. We will be practicing Monday – Thursday for the first two weeks, from 6:30pm – 8:30pm. Please come to the field with your cheerleader and go to the bleachers. We will introduce the coaches and then the cheerleaders will go to their prospective divisions to start their practice.

What to Wear:

Please make sure your cheerleader is ready for practices. This means DRESS APPROPRIATELY –

Soffee shorts or some type of stretchy shorts. NO JEAN SHORTS, SKIRTS, SKORTS, etc.
It is requested that ALL cheerleaders wear bloomers or sliders under their cheer shorts.
T-shirts (not to big) or tank tops are fine. (NO spaghetti straps)
Sneakers – Sneakers with tied laces. No thick heel tennis shoes or Heely-type shoes (this is a safety issue and your daughter will not be able to participate.) .
No jewelry of any kind. They are not permitted to wear jewelry at practices or games. PLEASE do not let your daughter get her ears pierced, belly button, or anywhere right before season starts. They will not be able to participate. (Remember it takes 2-3 months of healing.)
Hair must be pulled back away from their face neatly.
Please make sure she has water or money to purchase a drink for practices.

It is a great idea to label jackets, clothing, water bottles, jugs, etc. with your child’s name!

Midget Age rules

Any cheerleader that cheers for High School football – be it varsity or JV – is no longer eligible to cheer for any SYFC league including DJF. This only pertains to Football Cheerleading.

Your daughter may cheer for middle school sports (basketball, volleyball, etc.). They may also cheer for high school basketball.

If your daughter is eligible to try-out for high school football cheerleading and is still with Dunedin Jr. Falcons, you will have to make a decision for one or the other.

Practice nights and teams:

Once on their teams, practice nights prior to the school year will be 4 nights per week. Once school starts practices will go down to 3 nights per week and are determined by each individual coaching staff.

On the first night of team practice the coaches will re-introduce themselves to the cheerleaders and provide you contact information. They will also notify you of the 1^st Team meeting (with parents) to provide and go over lots of information.

Extra practices do get called throughout the season – they can be on other weekdays, weekends, BYE weekends, etc. This may be because the team is making up for practices that have been cancelled due to rain or because they are working on their competition routine.

If you are planning any major trips (week or longer) during season, please consider how this may affect participation in cheerleading. They are a part of a team, and one cheerleader being absent can affect the whole team.

Keep your Coaches Informed

If you have to leave the field during practice or you have made arrangements for another parent to be responsible for your child, please let the coach know. This is necessary information in case of emergency as well as possibly ending practice early for inclement weather.

Please be aware of practice times for your team(s). Coaches cannot leave practice without every child having been picked up. So please be on time to pick up your child from practice so our coaches, who also have families, can get home themselves.

Inclement Weather Plan:

The normal weather plan is that we will not cancel a night of practice due to rain until 6:30. Practice is cancelled by a member of the Executive Board. You never know if the weather will blow over or not, or if it even hit one area of town vs. another.

If we have to cancel a practice night before the players are on teams, we will do it from the field by notifying all the coaches and as many people as possible. A board member will be in the parking lot waiving traffic by.

Once the player is on their team, all the coaches will be notified once a decision has been made and they in turn will contact the Team Parent and parents to notify them.

Cheer Packages:

You are required to purchase a Cheer package which consists of all the items the cheerleader gets to keep (shoes, practice shirt, practice shorts, halftop (for competition only), hair tie, and additional cheer gear items). The halftops will not be given until we get closer to competition.

ALL CHEER PACKAGES MUST BE PAID IN FULL BY Thursday, JULY 24th, OR CHEERLEADER WILL NOT RECEIVE HER CHEER PACKAGE AND WILL NOT CHEER. No exceptions! If you need to make payments, they can be made at any registration date before season starts and up to July 24th.

We will be having an early sizing prior to season, we will inform you on this date. Although your cheerleader may have been sized at registration, it is very important to make one of these dates for cheer gear and shoe sizing. Those cheerleaders who do not get sized for shoes at by June 18th may not have their cheer shoes in time for the Kickoff Classic (Jamboree).

Cheerleaders will receive their cheer packages sometime during the week before the Kick-off Classic. The girls will be wearing their practice outfits to the Kickoff Classic and possibly some games during the season. There will also be times throughout the season that their coaches may ask them to wear one of their outfits to practice. (This helps coaches focus on the routine and movements rather than twenty different colors!)

What else to expect and other activities

Besides practices and games, we will be participating in additional activities which may include but not be limited to spirit week, dances, homecoming events, family night, skating parties, outside cheerleading competitions, and much more. For those of you new to our organization, below is some background on some of these events.

Homecoming Pep Rally is an annual event where we celebrate our DJF Kids and Parents. We will present our Football Players and Cheerleaders and our Cheerleaders will entertain us with their competition routines!

Parent Appreciation Day/Homecoming Game: Designated home game day for the Falcons to thank our parents who support their children, teams, and the organization. Players escort their parents as they are announced at the beginning of each game.

Parent Participation:

As parents, you will be required to volunteer in our concession stand and/or other volunteer opportunities. You are also required to participate in all league/team fundraisers. This is a non-profit organization and the responsibility falls on all of us to do our part.

Calendar:

Attached is a preview of the 2014 varsity schedule and additional event dates (all subject to change). Also, there are occasional weekend practices for cheer teams as they prepare for competition. If you are planning any major trips (week or longer) during season, please consider how this may affect participation in cheerleading.

Cheer Competitions

We support our cheer teams to participate in three cheer competitions. These girls spend lots of time perfecting a 3-minute routine!

We are scheduled for the following dates:

2014 Cheerleading Competitions

October 19 - Best of the Bay - Tampa

October 26 - Gulf Coast Cheer Classic - Lakeland

November 2 - Champion Cheer Central - Tampa

November 23 - SYFC Cheer Competition - East Lake HS

What other costs are there?

In addition to Registration and Cheer Packages, there are other costs that you may incur over season. The examples below are not all inclusive, but to give you an idea.

Entrance to Saturday games: $3

Entrance to Quarterfinals thru Playoffs and SYFC Cheer Competition: $5

Cheerleader T-Shirts vary from $10 up

Parent T-shirts (optional) vary from $10 up

Outside Cheer competitions – Entry ~ $10-12, plus may be cost for parking

Game day drinks/snacks for team usually rotated among parents to provide.

We look forward to an exciting, fun-filled season with you and your child!