[IISnakE]

Heart is the most important ingredient

Miles & Miles of H-E-A-R-T... on the part of the Coach and every member of the team(and their parents :p ). Everyone has to "buy into" doing everything they can to improve, beginning the first day of try-out practice and every day after that during the entire season!
The coach must know enough about the sport to either do everything they can or know enough to get the right people to cover gymnastics, stunt work, fund raising, choreography, uniforms, and basic organization... not to mention literally hours and hours in a gym or gym-type-esque location. It also helps to have the support of the school's administrators and BOE members. Face it folks, Cheer is a sport... a year round sport @ that... if a squad is to be successful. It is actually up to the girls and their parents as to how successful they will be.... if they have a dud for a coach, it's up to them to show up in numbers @ a board meeting and get it changed... otherwise they are throwing good money down a big ol black hole of wasted opportunities/time/money/high school dreams... if the coach is a good one, and everyone's on board~ the dividends will far outweigh the investment! I am just eager to see administrators actually step up and force the issues with their cheer coaches. Every squad in the Commonwealth should be taking part in KAPOS competitions. They all must adhere to KAPOS and National Fed guidelines, so they all need to compete. Sheesh... sry bout the sermonette:o