Tryouts - Selection of Alternates - URGENT

[GHSCheer]

I am a new coach (not new to cheerleading, just new to this school) at a school with a relatively immature cheer program.  I am in the process of drafting a new Constitution, and one of my proposals is the inclusion of Alternates.  Last year, due to a squad member's moving, they used the mascot as a base - far from ideal / compliant in many ways. 

Questions:
How many alternates does your squad utilize?
How do you break a tie at tryouts if say 3 girls for 2 Alternate spots score the same?
Do you pull a JV squad member up to fill a Varsity vacancy and have the Alternate fill the JV spot? 

Any feedback and rationale would be greatly appreciated.  I have a meeting this coming Monday morning.

[Kong]

I think it would largely depend upon the type of squad you had.  If you were going to compete, the need for alternates becomes more urgent.  If not, then you can always adjust accordingly with limited alternates.

That being said, I have a friend who had a great solution to alternates for a competition squad.  She took four and made it so that they filled in each of the key stunting positions...a left base, right base, back spot and top.  If one person went down with an injury, the appropriate alternate was pulled out of the alternate group to replace the injured person for the competition routine.

As far as breaking a tie at tryouts is concerned, that would largely depend upon how you judge your tryouts.  If you go by pure score, then you might have a bit of a problem breaking that tie.  If you have other factors that figure in to your judging criteria (e.g. the coach makes the final decision), then you avoid such problems.

Whether you pull up from JV will depend on a lot of things.  If you have a JV routine that needs to be done, then you can't really pull people up, especially if you have your own alternates.  If you have no alternates, then, whether you have a routine or not, I think you pull girls up to fill needs on varsity.  My perspective of a JV team is that they are there to cheer for JV sports, but they, just like any JV athlete, are working to eventually make it to Varsity.  As long as the JV coach understands that their team may be "cannibalized" for the benefit of the Varsity, I think pulling someone up from JV is to be expected.

Kong

[LCSD1 coach]

I use my alternates just like a squad member.  They cheer every home game but do not travel with the team unless I have a member out illness, injury, grades, ect.  My alternates go to camp, learn every chant,cheer, dance, stunt ect.  They do everything just as if they had made the squad.  That way if she is needed to fill in she knows the routine.  I do not see any drawbacks to having an alternate.  It is just like the basketball teams bench warmers.  They are there at every practice and when needed they go in the game.

[coolcoach]

I typically take 3 alternates every year (an alternate base, flyer, and backspot).

In the event of a tie in alternate scores, I will typically take make an executive decision over which girl gets the spot based on her potential.

I do not pull up girls from JV to fill my team because they are a separate team with a lower level of skill. For example: A JV girl who can only do a standing handspring isn't going to do well on my team where everyone has a tuck.

[Coach C]

I take a full team at tryouts and assign alternates later on in the season after everyone has learned material & gone thru a good portion of the season (I don't select my alternates until November, since they're only for competition).  I think it would be hard to select alternates based on tryouts alone...

[candcrew]

I am a new coach (not new to cheerleading, just new to this school) at a school with a relatively immature cheer program.  I am in the process of drafting a new Constitution, and one of my proposals is the inclusion of Alternates.  Last year, due to a squad member's moving, they used the mascot as a base - far from ideal / compliant in many ways. 

Questions:
How many alternates does your squad utilize?
How do you break a tie at tryouts if say 3 girls for 2 Alternate spots score the same?
Do you pull a JV squad member up to fill a Varsity vacancy and have the Alternate fill the JV spot? 

Any feedback and rationale would be greatly appreciated.  I have a meeting this coming Monday morning.

We're strictly sideline so I don't take alternates.  If I lose someone during a season, it can impact stunting but we work around it.  I have 12 FB and 10 BB cheerleaders so losing 1 during a season isn't a huge deal.  If we were competitive, our competitive squad size would be 2 less than what cheers during regular season--the "alternates" would be sideline cheerleaders & would be at competitive practices but would only compete if someone else had to be pulled.  We're a small enough school that we couldn't choose alternates based on their stunting position plus we're pretty flexible in our stunt groups that we could rearrange things.

To break a tie, I go back and look at coach/teacher evaluations.  I want the cheerleader that is going to have the best attitude/be easier to work with.

Can't answer the JV question personally but in our conference, the schools with JV squads have pulled girls up to varsity if the coaches felt like s/he was going to be able to handle cheering varsity.  Again, these are sideline only programs though.

[CheerHounds]

I take a full team at tryouts and assign alternates later on in the season after everyone has learned material & gone thru a good portion of the season (I don't select my alternates until November, since they're only for competition).  I think it would be hard to select alternates based on tryouts alone...

I really like this way! I think I will use it this year! I still want to give everyone the opportunity to cheer for the school - i know there are always some who don't want to compete...

[LCSD1 coach]

I don't have a choice I have to select alternates at try outs or I don't have any extras because of  the fact I 'm only allowed 8.  It would be nice not to have a limit.

[GHSCheer]

Thank you all for taking the time to respond.  Having a variety of ideas is definitely helpful!