The tryout packet is where most tryout disputes start, months before anyone does a toe touch. A parent who did not know the season costs $1,400 or that three unexcused absences can cost a spot on the team will find out eventually, and the conversation is much worse in October than it would have been in February. We read three real, published packets end to end to see what programs actually include: a Texas high school, a Washington high school and a large all star gym. Here is what goes in a packet, what the forms are, and the mistakes the published ones make.
What should be in a cheer tryout packet?
Every packet we read had two halves. The first half informs: a letter to parents, the calendar, who is eligible, what it costs, what the commitment is, and how tryouts work. The second half collects: the application, medical and eligibility forms, and signatures. The informing half is the one that prevents problems, and it is the one most packets write in a hurry.
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| Section | Garland ISD (TX) | Lynnwood HS (WA) | Cheer Athletics (all star) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent letter and dates | Yes | Yes, with a full timeline | Yes, tryout and placement dates |
| Eligibility | Pass all classes, physical, campus acceptance | Grades 10 to 12, 2.0 GPA, five classes passed | Birth year and skill level |
| Season cost | Estimate: $900 to $1,500 | Itemized, deposit and balance dates | Tuition, fees and apparel itemized |
| Commitment and attendance | Tryout to tryout, parades mandatory | Absence, tardy and early leave rules | 12 month commitment |
| Scoring model | Order of events and what is scored, no weights | Weights published, totals 100 | Not published |
| How results are posted | Same day, online | By tryout number, on social media | Placement date announced |
| Forms included | Application, handbook signature, JV consent, media release | Application, questionnaire, eligibility forms, signatures | None, registration online |
The all star packet is a brochure, not a form bundle, because the gym registers athletes online and handles medical and waiver paperwork at signup. School packets still carry paper, because a school needs signed state association forms on file before an athlete can set foot on the mat.
What forms do you need for cheer tryouts?
For a school program, the form list is mostly set for you by your state association and district. Garland's checklist pointed families to the UIL physical and medical history form, the UIL concussion form and a printout of current grades. Lynnwood required its eligibility forms to be complete, and any fines paid, before an athlete could even attend open practices, with a line in capitals: if you are not cleared, you do not try out. Across both, the forms fall into five groups.
- Application. Name, grade, contact details for athlete and parents, past cheer, gymnastics or dance experience, and skills the athlete can already perform.
- Medical and eligibility. The state physical and medical history form, a concussion acknowledgment, and a grade check. Use the official state versions, never a generic template, because an outdated form is the same as no form.
- Conduct and commitment. Squad rules, the attendance policy and the athletic code, signed by athlete and parent.
- Money. An acknowledgment of the estimated season cost and the payment dates.
- Media release. Permission to use photos and video, which matters the day you post the team on social media.
Some programs add a written piece. Lynnwood scores a questionnaire and an essay, which is unusual and worth a look if you want to weigh leadership and commitment, not just jumps. If you collect sixty paper applications and need the contact details in a spreadsheet by Friday, running the scanned pages through document data extraction software saves a night of typing. The attendance section deserves its own care, and our cheerleading attendance policy template sets out the excused and unexcused rules and the consequence ladder most programs settle on.
Put the real season cost in the packet
This is the section parents read twice, and the one most packets understate. Estimates are fine, as long as the ceiling is honest and every line a family will pay appears somewhere. Here is what the three packets list.
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| Program | What the packet lists | Payment timing |
|---|---|---|
| Garland ISD, varsity and JV | Estimated annual cost $900 to $1,500 varsity, $1,000 to $1,400 JV, including camp, camp wear and season wear. $600 camp payment. Items non-refundable once ordered. | $600 camp payment due June 15, installments allowed |
| Lynnwood HS, sideline and competition | $900 sideline season, $150 participation fee, $400 competition fees, $300 uniform, $120 to $160 gear, $30 bows, $450 camp, $60 to $75 pictures. Fundraising averaged $400 per athlete. | $450 deposit in April, balance October 1 |
| Cheer Athletics Chicago, all star | Monthly tuition from $200 (Tiny) to $400 (Worlds), practice wear, warm up jacket, uniform from $600, choreography and music fee, end of season events, USASF membership, program membership. | Tuition in 12 monthly installments, June to May |
Lynnwood's itemized list is the model to copy. A family can add it up, see the deposit date and plan for it, and nobody can say later that the camp fee was a surprise. If you are putting an all star season in front of families, our all star cheer cost comparison lays out published fee sheets from five US gyms and a whole season budget, and the cheer uniform cost breakdown covers the single biggest line on most school lists.
Publish the scoring model, not just the schedule
The most useful thing a packet can do for the coach is publish how athletes are scored. Lynnwood does it plainly: physical skills 40 points, essay 25, interview 15 and a coaches score from the questionnaire 20, for 100 in total, with flyer body positions as a tiebreaker. Garland lists the order of events and what each is judged on, including an entrance scored on tumbling, spirit and poise, four jumps for high school, and a cheer scored on difficulty, execution, smile, motion technique and voice. It also publishes the selection math: a varsity minimum score of 50 and a cap of 22, with the top four seniors and top four juniors taking eight spots and the next eight highest scores taking eight more.
Published rules like that end most arguments before they start, but only if the scores behind them hold up. That means judges scoring independently, every score stored with who entered it, and a ranked list you can export when a parent asks. Our cheerleading tryout score sheet page compares published district rubrics and weights if you are still setting categories, and the cheerleading tryouts guide covers clinic days, judges and the selection meeting.
Three mistakes the published packets make
Packets get copied forward every year, and it shows. Two of the three we read carried errors a parent would notice.
- Two deadlines for the same forms. Garland's packet gives the forms deadline as April 18 to one coach on one page and April 12 to a different coach, in room 118, on another. One of those families turns in forms late.
- Last season's rules left in. Lynnwood's 2023-24 packet asks for a 2.0 GPA to try out for the 2022-2023 season, and its table of contents points to eligibility forms on page 22 when they sit on page 19.
- Commitment without the cost of leaving. Packets explain the commitment but rarely what happens to money already paid if an athlete quits or is removed. Garland notes items are non-refundable once ordered, which is the right idea; say it for every line.
The fix is boring and it works: keep the dates, fees and rules in one place and generate the packet from them each year, rather than editing last year's document by hand.
From packet to roster without retyping everything
The packet is stage one of four. After it come clinic days, scoring and results, then the roster and the season. The paper forms have to exist, but everything after them runs better online. Tryouts in Cheerleaders sets up your categories and weights, gives each judge a private link to score from a phone, ranks candidates live as scores come in, records each decision, and exports the full judge log as a CSV when someone asks how a number was reached. The athletes who make it go onto the team roster for the season. Tryouts are part of the Program plan at $79 a month, which covers up to five teams, so JV, varsity and a competition squad all run from one account; see pricing. Plan changes take effect immediately, so you can move up to Program the week before tryouts and back down to the Team plan for the off season.
Questions coaches ask
What should be in a cheer tryout packet?
A cheer tryout packet should hold a parent letter, the dates, eligibility rules, the full cost of the season, the commitment and attendance policy, how tryouts are scored and how results are posted, then the forms: application, physical and medical forms, code of conduct, media release and a signature page. The costs and scoring sections are the ones families read twice.
What forms do you need for cheer tryouts?
Most school packets ask for an athlete application, a current physical and medical history form, a concussion acknowledgment, a grade check or eligibility clearance, a code of conduct signed by athlete and parent, a media release, and a financial commitment acknowledgment. State associations set the physical and concussion forms, so use theirs rather than a generic template.
When should cheer tryout packets be handed out?
Six to ten weeks before tryouts. Lynnwood High School released its 2023-24 packet on February 1 for an April 14 tryout, with forms and eligibility due March 31. That lead time lets families get a physical scheduled, clear grades and read the costs before a child falls in love with the idea of making the team.
How do you post cheer tryout results?
Post results by tryout number, not by name, on the same day or the next morning, in one place every family already knows. Garland ISD posted results on its learning platform the same day; Lynnwood posted by tryout number on social media. Pair the list with the date of the mandatory meeting so families who made it know the next step.
How much does it cost to be a high school cheerleader?
Between about $900 and $2,500 a year on the packets we read. Garland ISD estimated $900 to $1,500 for varsity and $1,000 to $1,400 for JV. Lynnwood listed a $900 sideline season plus a $150 participation fee, $400 in competition fees, a $300 uniform and a $450 camp, less fundraising that averaged $400 per athlete.