2024 Cheer — What you need to know!
Fall Cheer season 2024 Information
- Kindergarten flag cheerleaders
- Super Lightweight Cheerleaders – 1st and 2nd grade
- Lightweight Cheerleaders – 3rd and 4th grade
- Junior Varsity Cheerleaders – 5th and 6th grade
- Varsity Cheerleaders – 7th and 8th grade
**Team breakdowns will be based on final registration numbers.
**All athletes will cheer for the grade level they are in for the 2024-2025 school year. Due to competition season and ICA rules, we are not able to take any team requests.
Kindergarten Flag Football Cheer:
Fees; $175
The football season fee covers the rental of the cheer uniform, homecoming attire, practice t-shirt, game day cheer bow, breast cancer awareness bow, Cals Angels bow and practice space fees.
Practice will be held 2 days a week summer and 1-2 days a week after school starts in late afternoon/evening. Athletes cheer at home and away games for the flag football season. Practices end by Sept 6th, 2024. Cheerleaders will still attend all games after this time.
FOOTBALL ONLY CHEERLEADERS (NO COMPETITION):
Fees; First through 8th Grade; $295 (resident)/ $370 (non-resident)
The football season fee covers the rental of the cheer uniform, cheerleading shoes, homecoming attire, practice t-shirt, game day cheer bow, breast cancer awareness bow, Cals Angels bow and practice space fees.
1st – 2nd grade cheerleaders: Practice starts the week of August 5th. They will be held 2-3 days a week in late afternoon/evening and move to 1-2 days a week when school starts. Football only cheer practices end by September 6th. Cheerleaders will continue to cheer at all home and away games.
3rd – 8th Grade cheerleaders: Practice starts the week of August 5th. Cheerleaders will practice 2-3 days a week. When school begins in August, the practice schedule will go down to 2 days per week for 3rd-8th grade.
Football only cheerleaders practices end by September 6th. Cheerleaders will continue to cheer at home and away games.
COMPETITION CHEERLEADERS
- Fees for 1st through 8th Grade: $250 (resident and non-resident)
- Kindergarten is not eligible for competition cheer.
- You must register separately for football also to join competition cheer.
The competitive cheer season fee covers the cost of the athlete’s admission into 2 ICA competitions (NOT including State Competition fees), choreography by professional choreographers, indoor practice space, competition hair bow, and competition music. Additional fees include the competition uniform and State Championship fees ($165 unless they are raised this year) if the athlete’s team earns a State bid.
All athletes registering for the competition season will need to purchase a competition uniform. These will be the same uniform from the 2023 competition season. The uniforms are an additional fee and need to be purchased by the athlete. This uniform is only worn for competitions. Athletes will be fit for the competition uniform at the June fittings and the uniform needs to be paid in full at that time. The cost of the competition uniform if needed to purchase will be approximately $165. Competition athletes will also need to buy a second pair of all white gym shoes for football games. The shoes that come with their registration fee will be for competition ONLY and cannot be worn outside.
Schedule notes:
There will be one practice the week of July 8th for competition cheerleaders in preparation for choreography clinic.
MANDATORY CHOREOGRAPHY CAMP will be held on the following dates for the 2024 season:
- SLW and Varsity will be held on Saturday July 13th and Sunday July 14th.
- LW and JV will be held on Monday July 15th and Tuesday July 16th.
- Times TBD.
This camp is mandatory for all competing athletes. This is when they will learn their routine for the entire season. ALL ATHLETES ARE REQUIRED TO ATTEND CAMP TO COMPETE. VACATIONS ARE NOT ACCEPTABLE EXCUSES TO MISS CAMP.
Regular practice schedule for competition cheer starts the week July 15th and continues through State in November. Football only cheerleaders will begin the week of August 5th.
Outdoor practice location is TBD. More details to come. The typical practice schedule is as follows (BUT IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE BASED ON COACH SCHEDULES, WEATHER, PRACTICE SPACE AVAILABILITY).
During competition season, cheerleaders participate in two local ICA competitions held in the months of September and October. Teams may also earn the opportunity to advance to the State Championship, which will be held at the beginning of November (date TBD) at NIU in DeKalb, IL . There is an additional fee of $165 per athlete for the State Competition if the team advances. You must be available for all competition dates to compete.
We understand that emergencies happen, and coaches are willing to work with you individually; however, to have a successful competition season, attendance is absolutely required at all practices, and we maintain a strict attendance policy. Competition guidelines will be strictly enforced, and the Orland Park Pioneers follow all ICA rules throughout our football and competition seasons.
***GENERAL INFORMATION FOR ALL LEVELS (Flag, Football and Competition***
Uniform Fitting Information
Cheer uniform fittings will be held on June 18, 2024 from 6-8:30 pm (preliminary location is Sandburg high school).
It is essential that ALL registered cheerleaders are fit for their uniforms during these fittings. This will ensure that we have all uniform pieces needed on time to begin the season.
On the uniform fitting day, the cheerleader will be fit for the following items:
- Football season uniform vest
- Football season uniform skirt
- Cheer shoes**
- Camp & Homecoming T-shirts
- Competition season uniform (Additional cost of approximately $165)**
- Warm-Up Jacket & Pants (If needed, additional cost of approximately $90)*
*All cheerleaders are required to have warm-up pants and jackets which are not included in the registration cost. If you purchased new warm-ups for the Fall 2023 season, they will be the same for Fall 2024.
A $250 football season uniform deposit fee will also be required for each registered cheerleader at the time of uniform fittings. Checks should be made payable to Orland Park Pioneers and post-dated December 1, 2024. These checks will not be cashed; they will be held until uniform return. When the uniform has been inspected and turned in on-time, the $250 check will be returned to you. If uniform pieces are missing and/or uniform is turned in damaged, the deposit check will be cashed.
Attendance Policy
It is expected for athletes to attend all practices and games through the entire football season. Cheerleaders are required to stay for the entire game. Dismissal after half time is not allowed. Missing practices or games is always a concern. If even one girl is missing, we cannot practice stunts or formations properly since every girl plays an important role in the routine. Vacations or out of town travel should not be planned during the cheer season. As a courtesy to the coaches and fairness to the team, it is expected that parents communicate any situations that may require the athlete to miss practices or games to the head coach well ahead of time. Athletes who miss practices or games related to vacations or other activities can have their spot in a routine adjusted. Medical excuses are the only excused absences considered. Please be aware that if a cheerleader has 3 or more absences from games and/or practices, they can be dismissed from the squad without a refund. We certainly recognize that there are extenuating circumstances that may lead to a cheerleader missing practices, but please discuss these with your head coach should they arise.
Practice attire
Athletes should wear athletic shorts/leggings (no jeans or jean shorts) and t-shirts, gym/cheer shoes (no sandals/flip flops, crocs or bare feet), no bare midriff tops/crop tops, and no jewelry or long nails are allowed. Hair must be pulled back into a ponytail or braid.
Games
For the 2024 football season, all cheerleaders will follow the football schedule and cheer for their appropriate team level. Cheerleaders will cheer at all home and away games, as well as any play-off games, and are expected to cheer even during inclement weather. Games can be played on Saturday or Sunday. A schedule will be distributed at the start of the season. All cheerleaders are required to participate for the entire football season and cheer for playoff games (depending upon your team’s schedule).
fee of $200.00 is required at the time of uniform fittings. Checks can be made payable to Orland Park Pioneers in the amount of $200.00 and postdated to December 1, 2024. If all volunteer hours are completed, then the check in the amount of $200.00 will be returned at the end of the season. There will be no partial refunds. If the volunteer hours are not completed during the season, the volunteer check for $200.00 will be cashed when the season ends. There will be plenty of opportunities offered to complete these hours during the season.
Mandatory Fundraiser
All Orland Park Pioneer participants are required to participate in the organization’s annual fundraiser. The fundraiser takes place at the beginning of the season. For the 2024 season, athletes will be selling Double Good Popcorn. Each athlete is required to sell $300 or more of popcorn. If you choose to not participate in selling fundraiser items, there will be a buy-out option for a set fee determined by the Board. More information will be given out at the beginning of the season.
Stunt Groups
All routines and stunt groups are chosen at the discretion of the coaching staff with the strengths and safety of each cheerleader being a priority. Every member of the squad is an integral part of the team. The coach’s responsibility is to do what is best for the team. No cheer position is more important than another nor is any position guaranteed for the entire season.
Parent Meeting
Before the season begins, the cheer athletic directors will host a mandatory parent meeting. At this meeting, we will review the expectations for our cheerleaders and families. We will explain important ICA rules and we will discuss volunteer hours and other important information. The date and time are TBD. Please make yourself available for this meeting when the date is released. It will be brief! The meeting will be on Zoom and all parents will be required to submit a google document stating that they have read/agree with the parent and athlete codes of conduct and rules.
If you are interested in volunteering for our coaching staff for Fall 2024, please reach out to the cheer athletic directors at oppioneerscheer@gmail.com. Prior cheer and/or coaching experience is not mandatory, but is extremely helpful. All coaches must complete a background check and are placed on a first come basis until any open positions are filled. If coaching is not available, other opportunities to help will be offered!
We are looking forward to a great 2024 cheer season!
Orland Park Pioneers Cheer Athletic Directors
Jill Lenzen
Rhea Sternberg