9 Ways to Build Crowd Participation

Do you ever wish your fans were like this one from @warriorcheerleading?

When I began coaching one of my teams I have worked with in the past, they were fearful to perform and cheer in front of the students.  They told me that the previous year the students threatened to throw tomatoes at them.  My team tried to convince me that nothing was going to work to get the crowd involved.

The team and I tried a number of strategies to fix this issue and guess what? The students never threw tomatoes at them AND the student section began yelling with them! 

Try these strategies and you will experience a difference in your crowd response.

1. Hit your Stunts

While it may be tempting to throw a fancy new skill that is not solid 100% of the time, the sideline is not the place to throw it. The general public does not know the difference in difficulty of a full up lib or a basic prep.  Sure they might be a little more wowed by a full up lib, but they may not realize how much more difficult it is.  What the crowd does notice are falls and bobbles.  A shaky stunt will diminish any credibility your team has to lead the crowd. Stick with your most solid stunts.

2. Keep it Clean

The motions, tumbling, and jumps need to be clean. If a team does not look synchronized, a crowd will not know what to follow.

3. Keep it Simple

Keep the words of your cheer simple. Make it easy for the crowd to pick up and follow along.

4. Use Signs

Use signs so your crowd knows what to yell. Make sure your team is sharp in using the signs and that they are easy to follow with the cheer.

Here is an example of keeping it simple and using signs from @natigerscheer:

5. Keep and/or Create Traditions

Your cheers do not have to always incorporate the crowd yelling, “Blue and Gold” or “Go Tigers”. Get them to do fun cheers that may not be the traditional ones that you learn at camp or use signs to lead.  

Check out an example from @johnmarshallcheerleading:

6. Motivate Student Leaders

If you don’t have a pep club or an organized student section, identify the students in the stands who are the leaders.  Invite them to a practice or a lunch meeting and feed them.  Then, have the cheerleaders share with the leaders the cheers they want them to help lead. If you can get the student leaders to participate, the rest of the school will follow.

7. Bribe the Crowd

You can bribe your audience by throwing out candy, t-shirts or anything that will get them to yell. 

8. Be Confident

A crowd is going to be more likely to respond if the cheer team is confident. It is very obvious if a team is intimidated by their crowd. You can build confidence in your team if they know their material really well. Also, if you have solidified students who you know will participate in the cheers.

9. Enlist Support

Get the student council and other student groups to promote school spirit at games.  The cheer team should not be in this alone.  Additionally, work with the athletic director and other school officials for ideas and to have them help support your efforts.

Every school is unique. You may try a strategy that works great for one school and it may not work at all for your school.  You need to evaluate the climate and determine what is best for your school.  Don’t discount any ideas because you never know what will work.

Don’t Give Up

If you have a tough crowd, it may take many games to get them to cheer.  Your team needs to do their job as cheerleaders regardless of what the crowd is doing.  Keep going!