Can Cheerleading be a Career?

Jun 10

With cheer being a relatively new sport with people know little about it, it is widely assumed that Cheerleading is only a hobby and cannot be a sustainable future. I myself thought this when growing up.

But 10 years later I have not only found that cheerleading can in fact be career, I have also had the privilege of making cheer a career for others as well! There are so many facets to cheerleading that allow for so many different types of people to make a career out of cheerleading.

I will list below some of the options, that you may not realise exist to either be involved in cheer or make it your career.

Cheer Coach

Good Cheer Coaches are a highly sought-after commodity. You have to be really caring, but also know how to push athletes to be their best. You also have to be very organised and prepared to put a lot of thought into your classes to be successful. It is not a job that you can just show up on the day and walk into without any thought.

HOURS: 1hr - 38hrs/week (Full Time), depending on what they can commit to and/or their gym has available for them
QUALITIES OF A GOOD COACH: Organised, great with kids, confident, willing to learn, empathetic, relatable, meticulous, and motivating.
TYPES: There are lots of types of coaches in Cheerleading, and usually over time you can specialise in what you like doing or are best at. At Infinity, some of our coaches like to change it up and do a bit of everything to add variety to their weeks and some like to stick to what they excel in. The different types of Coaching we offer are: Tumble Coaching, Rec Coaching (Kinder & Cheer4FUN), CheerSPORT Coaching and Elite Coaching. All of these coaching types also have the ability to coach at different levels as well.
HOW TO BE COME A COACH: Every gym is different in what they specifically require, however, at minimum, you need the following to become a coach: Level 1 IASF Coach Credentials (must have credentials equal to the level you are coaching), a BlueCard, First Aid & CPR, be 16yrs+ (this varies). At our gym we also like to have our coaches complete an in house coaches training course before commencing. A certificate in Sport & Recreation could also be helpful towards this role.

Admin

Gyms need an Admin Team to be an effective business. If coaching isn’t for you but you still want to stay involved in the industry, being an Accounts Manager, Receptionist or Admin Assistant or Team Member may be for you.

HOURS: Depending on the position, your availability and what the gym is able to offer, there could be anywhere from 3hrs to 38hrs per week available.
TYPES: There are so many different jobs in the office of a Cheer Gym. We currently have an Accounts Manager, Event Manger, Business Manager, Merch Manager Marketing Manager & Customer Service Manager, across 4 employees. Gyms need people to do the following: Respond to Messages, Calls and Emails, Follow Up Enquiries, Advertising, Designing Flyers, Invoicing, Following Up Unpaid Accounts, Paying Bills, Processing Merch Orders, Designing Merch, Ordering Merch, Reconciling Rolls, Processing New Members, Restocking Merch, Staff Rosters, Payroll, Reconciling, Organising Large Events, Organising Small Events like Open Gyms & Workshops, making sure all members are in the right place at the right time, writing Info Packs/Costume Docs/Calendars/Fees Info, keeping Members and Staff in the loop, Competition Entries, Competition Waivers, Making Activities each Term on Class Management Software, organising Birthday Parties, plus so much more that comes up. It is a huge job!
HOW TO BECOME A PART OF AN ADMIN TEAM: Usually, these positions are a little bit more tricky to come by. Your best bet is to let the gym that you would like to work in, know that you would be interested in a position if there was one to become available. To be more successful in gaining an admin position having a certificate or diploma in Business, Business Administration, Business Management, Marketing, Event Management, or Accounts, could be helpful.

Program Director/Manager

These are often positions that require the canditate to have an indepth knowledge of all aspects of a gym including coaching and admin. Their job is similar of an owners without the risk of owning a gym. They would manage the staff and the gym. Each gym will have this position set up slightly differently and is typically used when an owners is not as involved in the business, or their workload needs to be shared because they have so much to do, or there are multiple locations and the owner can’t be in multiple places at once.

HOURS: This would typically be a full time position
HOW TO BECOME A PROGRAM DIRECTOR: This is a position where you would typically work up the ranks as a coach or admin team member and would incrementally take on more responsibility. At times gyms may advertise for someone for this position, but much experience is required. A certificate or diploma in Business Management, Management, Administration, or Sports Management, could be helpful towards this type of roll.

Traineeships in Admin/Sport

A few roles above mention certificates and diplomas that could contribute to the positions. These are something you can work towards as a school-based trainee and be paid for. Typically you can start a Traineeship in Year 10 and work one day or approx. 7hrs per week for the gym and be studying your selected certificate or diploma at the same time.

HOURS: Approx. One day or 7hrs per week minimum, plus additional shifts as a casual employee.
HOW TO BECOME A TRAINEE: The best way would be to contact a club you would like to work for and see if it would be something they would consider. This pathway is not widely know and most likely not set up in many gyms.

A traineeship will also help you work towards a role as Coach, Admin Team Member or Gym Director.

Judge

HOURS: This role is seasonal and can result in being busy traveling the country every weekend through comp season (June - Dec). This role is what you make it.
TYPES OF JUDGES: There are multiple judges for each section of the score sheet on each panel and some competitions may have multiple panels running at once. Typical judges specialise in their chosen areas. There are areas such as, Difficulty for Stunt & Tumble, Technique/Execution for Stunt & Tumble, Deductions, Legalities, and Overall.
HOW TO BECOME A JUDGE: Extensive cheer knowledge and experience is required. Typically you would need to have coached for a while and have reasonably high credentials. Some competition companies do sometimes offer to provide training to those who may not have a huge resume of experience if they are the right person and can demonstrate reasonable industry experience such as a high level athlete that has attention to detail. If you are interested in judging, once you feel you have enough experience, simply reach out to the competition event providers and enquire.

Choreographer

HOURS: This is a seasonal role and can result in being busy traveling the country during choreography season (Feb - May).
HOW TO BECOME A CHOREOGRAPHER: Typically you would need to be a very experience coach, very creative and great attention to detail. You would have to be well versed in the scoresheet and be prepared to spend a lot of time away from home during choreography season, if your work is so great people want it all across the country. The best place to start would be to start coaching and taking any opportunity to give choreography a go, be sure to let your gym owner know this is something you’re interested in. A really great way to start your choreography journey is starting in CheerSPORT as you learn how to understand a score sheet really well as CheerSPORT Coach and get more of an opportunity to choreograph your own routines. Another way to help work towards being a choreographer would be to attend a choreography session held in your gym and watch the choreographer in action to see what they do and learn from them.

International Jobs

All of the above jobs can actually be done internationally as well. If you have ever wanted to work overseas, you would be able to find these roles available overseas. Personally I don’t know much about working overseas, but when it does come time and you feel you are ready and have some experience up your sleve, there are many overseas facebook groups where you could ask and see what they say.

There are also opportunities to be a Worlds Judge, traveling from Australia if you get really good at it!

Gym Owner

Becoming a gym owner is a large responsibility and requires a huge amount of resilience and sacrifice. Gym Owners often carry a large financial risk and are responsible for anything that occurs in the gym.

Gym Owners unless they have a Gym Director generally overlook everything that happens in the gym and keep all of the staff accountable and ensure everything is running smoothly. It is their job to ensure everything is legally correct, taxes are sorted, and all the big boss type things are looked after.

It really depends on the gym owners strengths as to what they do. Generally, I do quite a bit of Admin and a bit of Coaching. Personally, I try not to overload myself with coaching to ensure I can give my classes plenty of thought and so I can be available to help my coaches and clients when they need me. I then also organise all of the Large and Small Events and deal with all of the information. I also either check-in with staff regarding admin tasks listed or do them myself. I am currently the Gym Director and oversee all staff and clients, but am working towards training someone for this position in the future so I can focus on Business Growth and Development, as well as my teams.

HOURS: 38hrs+ per week (I often do 45-60hrs per week depending on the events we have running). I used to work alot more then 38hrs a week every week, but am working towards developing a gym that allows me to work more reasonable hours to ensure I have a work life balance, to avoid burn out. As a gym owner you are also on call 24/7 and thinking about it 24/7.
HOW TO BECOME A GYM OWNER: Firstly, you will need money to purchase equipment, pay for the business set up costs and required insurances, then you will need to ensure you have a great support system and a plan on how you will survive most likely not getting paid much for a few years. This might mean you have second job or a supportive family. It is very different to being paid as an employee, you don’t get paid for every hour you do usually to start, or its minimal, particularly if you are in your own facility. It is more of a short term sacrifice for a more so long term gain. Starting a gym is a big project and I advise you do alot of research first. If you ever need some advice regarding this, I am happy to point you in the right direction.

Other Positions:

Guest Coach (traveling the country coaching in different gyms)
Event Producer (Runs competitions)
Cheer Merchandise Company
Photographer
Event Staff for Competitions

The best piece of advice I can give you is to be sure that if you have a gym that you want to work for or that you have connections with, be sure to connect with the gym owner and tell them your goals and aspirations. Your gym owner will be the best person to advise you on how to get to where you want to be and will also be able to take your goals and aspirations into account when future planning.

If you have any further questions about the roles listed above please feel free to send me an email or arrange a time for a phone meeting, I would be happy to help anyone interested in making cheerleading their career.