By: Jake Valle

While winter is just another season for most, for cheerleaders, it’s high time for National Championships. With the UCA International All-Star Championship Right around the corner, it's time to start practicing like a champion.

The best way to prepare for the big day is to practice like it IS the big day.

Start with an early morning practice. Come in, stretch, and do a couple of warm up exercises. Then, hit the mat for your 10 minute warm up like you would at nationals. Afterwards, wait about 10 minutes in the "holding area" and then go full out! This is a great way to condition your body to be prepared for competition setting. Perform your best, and pinpoint the areas that still need work. 

Bond as a team. A close team is a successful team. Since a lot of teams have double session practices when it comes close to nationals, that means the team will be together A LOT! Make sure your team makes time for fun amidst your crazy practice schedule. 

Come Back to Practice with Conviction. Do the same warm-up that you did in the morning. Make it feel like finals. Pre warm up, warm up, and perform! Mimicking the nationals experience may feel difficult at first. But, giving yourself a sense for how much time your team will have to warmup before hitting the mat will make your actual competition day run much more smoothly. The time crunch also provides your team the motivation to go and hit the routine, one and done. And, if in the off chance something in your routine falls, you have time to drill parts. It’s all about working SMARTER – NOT harder!

Every team varies with practice styles, but sometimes, teams are looking to switch things up a bit. Whether it’s adding in extra practices or getting front of audiences more often, this time of the year is all about experimenting with what works best for YOUR squad. Best of luck this Nationals Season – Trust the process, and the results will come!