Cheerleading mats

[CoachKgoMeanGreen]

I am looking for cheerleading mats. Our school has finally decided to buy some!!! YEEAAHHH!!! We have never had mats the entire time the school has been here, lol.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to how many? Or how big I should make the floor? I have 19 girls.

[RPCmme]

If you send me a PM, I can give you the name of the company that we used.  As for how many mats, here is a question that we coaches asked ourselves prior to purchase:
-If mats are being used for competitions, can we purchase enough mats to cover the competitive surface?

We could not afford enough mats to cover the entire gym floor ($$$).  However, we purchased 8 mats.  It covers approximately the size of a volleyball court...close enough.

[coachamie]

Typical competition floors seem to be 8 or 9 strips. If the school would buy you that many then definitely go for it. If you aren't competing and don't need a full floor then I would say 4 - 6 strips would be plenty. I have 21 girls and 4 mats. We compete so its barely making due, but if we didn't compete we have more then enough room. I'll pm you the company we buy for. I've done a lot of research and they seem to be the cheapest. They also delivered ours about a month early (which is always a good thing).

I would also recommend spending the extra money to get flexi roll mats in stead of the standard rolls. Not having to deal with the hassle of the old fashioned type mats is worth it!

[Kong]

Agreed about the flexi-rolls.  They are much easier to roll and set up and you don't have to worry about the mats being "curled" on the edges.

As for the mats that are typically used, most tems buy 1 3/8" carpet bonded foam floors.  The strips are typically 42' X 6', and a typical competition floor is either 7 or 9 of these mats (42'X42' or 54'X42').  If you do not compete, depending on the size of your squad (or if you have multiple squads), you may want between 2-5 strips.  If you do compete and do not have budget for an entire floor, if you buy an additional 2" thick velcro strip, you can cut it up into six seven foot long strips which you can then place on one mat.  That way, you can have a 42' wide floor and line up all of your formations.

Kong

[eyeofthebvtiger]

love flexi rolls. but one flaw I do notice with them is if they are not cheer shoes (like a pair of Pumas I used to use for tumbling because it I gave up on trying to find a pair of black mens cheer shoes) which scuffed them up a bit.