Coaches Corner

COACHES' CORNER

Developing Athlete Leaders at Every Age
by Owen Cox | Stars Vipers-Katy & USASF Board of Directors and Connection Leader

Let's start with a call out: you read the title of this article, and something in it made you read this sentence. Good job — that's already a gain in becoming a better leader. That small step of acknowledgment is the foundation of developing leadership traits in our athletes at every age and level: small steps and call-outs.

Why should we be developing athlete leaders at every age

All-Star teams are built to be competitive, and developing leaders on your team is how we get there. But we're also caretakers of amazing, special humans during the most formative years of their emotional and physical development. It's our duty that when the season ends, they're better physically, mentally, and morally than when it started.

So how do we begin develop leaders in our clubs? It's just three simple steps.

Step 1: Understand the Ages

Leadership development among your athletes starts by understanding how kids learn at every age.

Tiny/Mini — These kids learn leadership by watching.
Youth/Junior — These kids learn leadership by belonging.
Junior/Senior — learning leadership by leading.

Step 2: Understand and Communicate with Empathy

Building leaders starts with how you first communicate. Every age requires a unique style of communication to be effective.

Tiny/Mini

Get down to eye level so they feel safe. Use simple words — they aren't grown-ups yet. Validate big feelings (“I understand you're upset”). Name it out loud when you see it (“That's a straight leg!”). Their eyes are always on you, so when you call it out, they see it. Stepping up at this age means controlling themselves and meeting the expectations you set. They're watching you lead, and they'll lead the same way you do — what are you projecting?

Youth/Junior

Listen and look past the surface. This age is sensitive to fairness, inclusion, and acceptance — confidence is just the outer display of those emotions. They're starting to understand strategy and the value of supporting a teammate. The key is belonging. Teach them the actionable skills of being a great teammate, and they'll use those skills on their own. Then call it out — no matter how small the progress, celebrate it.

Junior/Senior

At this stage, you're coaching athletes with an identity, so know each of them individually. They see things from a perspective you don't, and you can use that to cultivate their desire to lead. Emotional intensity and peer influence both peak here — but so does their readiness to mentor younger athletes and own a leadership role instead of just admiring one. Set the table and call it out when you see the needle move.

Step 3: See the Best

See the best in your team, and in your peers you work with. Without that, your voice, your actions, and your commands will feel like a lie to your athletes. The magic looks different every season, but the “why” never changes.

Actionable Steps to Apply in your Club for Every Age

At the end of practice, circle up — a circle puts everyone on equal footing. Ask for three positives from practice: an athlete, a stunt group, or the team.

Tiny/Minis will look to you for help, then repeat it back as their own — that's a win.

Youth/Juniors will give positives to individual teammates as their way of showing belonging; thread those together so everyone sees they matter.

Junior/Seniors will run with it, giving shout-outs to individuals, stunt groups, and the whole team. You set the table — now it's your job to see the ownership, foster it, and grow it. At this age, it's not your team anymore. It's theirs.

Leveraging the Novice Tier
by John Moore | Empire Athletics & USASF Connection Leader

Do you have parents looking for that “entry into cheerleading or dance” without having to fully commit to a Prep or Elite team? Ever wish your current athletes had a way to develop more advanced skills throughout the season and use them on stage without the judging? Lastly, do you want to give your coaches more chances to grow within the profession? This is where the USASF's Novice tier can help you, your coaches, and your athletes.

What is the Novice Tier in All Star?

The USASF Novice tier is for individuals who are new to All Star but ready for performance-based teams that are evaluated at events. Novice teams focus on strengthening technique and performance skills that help prepare athletes for competitive All Star teams.

The Novice divisions do not count toward your D1/D2 classification. It is our job as professional members to take USASF's information and craft it into our business model.

How Empire Athletics use the Novice Tier

Empire Athletics Novice team

At Empire Athletics we use the Novice rules as our spring board for newer athletes as well as bridging the gap between All-Star levels. Our Novice level 1 teams are made up of newer athletes, as well as seasonal class students who have been invited to our Half Year Program Experience, H.Y.P.E., or our Tiny Novice program. This is an easy way to bring in athletes brand new to competitive cheer or dance who are just finishing their sideline line commitment or need a little more polish before next year's school tryouts.

The USASF Novice level 1 rules help guide coaches and athletes to feel challenged without feeling lost or behind, which allows for the team routine to grow with them instead of forcing perfection from the start.

The USASF Novice tier also include level 2 and level 3 with restrictions in place to help differentiate these divisions from Prep or Elite divisions. At Empire Athletics we also use the Novice tier to improve our Prep and Elite athletes while in season. During September we invite athletes pushing the envelope on the next level skills in tumbling and stunting to join our On Deck program. The On Deck program is our progression-crossing team, which allows athletes to perform and practice skills one level above their current Prep or Elite team.

Growth of Novice in 3 Years

We started this program 3 seasons ago with the goal of answering the parent question of “How can my athlete progress toward higher-level skills throughout the season — not just with tumbling — when Elite practices are focused on perfecting and repeating current skills instead of developing new ones?.”

After researching the USASF tiers and divisions, and with some adjustments in coaching on our end, On Deck was born. It started with two Novice level 2 and this year we're slotted for 4 On Deck teams ranging from Mini Novice level 2 to Junior Level 3.

Each On Deck team performs 2-3 times a season, practices for one hour before or after their set Prep or Elite practice schedule, half the time is spent as a tumbling class with drills and the second half is routine building slowly. We try to keep the cost no more than a regular tumbling class we offer so as to not outprice our parents. And our parents love it! Right now we are gearing up for our On Deck invite day and cannot wait to get started with year number three. USASF Novice tier can do more than strengthen your bottom line with younger athletes, it can help build your program from within while allowing you to remain competitive across your other divisions.