Cheerleading Competitions And The Art Of Public Relations
Cheerleading competitions are more about image, design and how the organizers interact with the cheer squads than they are about cheerleading as such. After all, a cheer competition is more of a concept than a concrete reality. All the cheer company is doing is creating a facility for squads to come together and compete in front of judges. Granted, that involves a lot of logistics, planning and managing, but at the end of the day the cheerleading competition company is providing a service. That is not to say there are not real, physical aspects to a cheer competition such as great venues in towns or cities that can adequately dozens, if not hundreds, of cheer squads, and stadiums and halls with spring floors and a range of performance venues. Plus the sound systems have to be adequate to deal with the loud and scintillating cheer music mixes that will emanate from them.
Yet what attracts the squads — or at least the people that book their competitions to a specific cheerleading competition is not the spring floor, the venue, the accommodation, the restaurants or the venues at the location. It is more an idea or a notion of how colorful and how much fun and how well-organized the cheer competition is going to be. That is where design, advertising and, most of all, public relations, comes into the equation. If the cheer companies involved can achieve that level of excitement and interest, the rest will follow automatically, from the reservations made by squads well in advance, to the actually enjoyment the squads, their families and supporters and, of course, the spectators both at the venue and before the television sets, derive from the cheer competition.
Take for instance the cheerleading competition company called CheerFest.com, who are major organizers of cheer competitions in North Carolina, Virginia, South Carolina, Florida and Maryland. Take for instance the cheer competition scheduled for October 25, 2008 in Fayetteville, NC a US finals qualifier. That does not inspire much excitement, does it? But if you look at the CheerFest.com website, the excitement generated around this event is considerable. It is not merely called a cheer competition but instead the Spooktacular CheerFest, with an obvious reference to Halloween on November 5. The logo is cheerful and atmospheric, featuring a pumpkin and all the sparkle and bubbly fun associated with cheerleading. The fact that the competition is a US Finals Qualifier is publicized in beautiful type alongside the Spooktacular logo. That is enough to get any cheer coach excited about attending this Spooktacular event! Its heavily patriotic associations too, with references to the traditional Halloween holiday and the US flag, the stars and stripes, further enhance the attractiveness of the cheer competition.
Early information available about the cheer competition, in the greatest detail possible including divisions and rules makes it even more likely that a squad will enter the cheer competition. Another great attraction and remember this amounts merely to information as it appears on the website is the range of prizes. cheerleading coaches and squads just love to know that every cheerleader will get a super branded cheer T shirt just for entering, and that the trophies are huge. Perhaps those T shirts will have the super Spooktacular logo on them, and that is a further draw card. It all makes cheer competition seem like joy and fun two factors that cheerleading is associated with and which cheerleaders just love, in large quantities! Included also in the information are the prices, for example the entry fee (in this case $49), the crossover fee ($2) and the spectator admission, which in this instance was $10. There is also entry information about individual fees and stunt group fees, all online for cheer competitors.
And how marvelous for the coach and squad to know about a lot of associated matters well in advance of the competition, such as how to book accommodation in Fayetteville for Spooktacular, and when the cheerleading performance order and competition results will be made known. This is a definite case of good communication and good public relations making a cheerleading competition more attractive to entrants and coaches. There is also a click-through to the US finals entry information so that the squad and coach are fully informed of where Spooktacular fits into the bigger picture of national cheer competitions. Also CheerFest.com sends update by email and by snail mail so that cheer coaches and squads everywhere remained informed of developments. Good communication and good presentation are the key to good public relations, and CheerFest.com achieves this admirably.
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