Cheer Detailed Information
Cheerleading Information
Mandarin Athletic Association Cheerleading
Welcome to Mandarin Athletic Association’s 2012 cheer season. MAA is an official Pop Warner cheerleading & football association located on Jacksonville’s Southside operating under the rules of the Greater Jacksonville Pop Warner Football Cheer Conference (www.popwarnerjacksonville.com). Everything from the qualifying of coaches, game schedules, practice times, and competitions are overseen by Pop Warner.
Mandarin Cheer is one of Jacksonville’s oldest and most respected youth cheerleading organizations. Our cheerleading programs, from age 5 to 15, are organized and operated at Greenland Park in Mandarin. We welcome all new and returning cheerleaders to the program.
If you live in Jacksonville East of the St. Johns River all the way to the inter-coastal you are eligible under Pop Warner guidelines to cheer at MAA.
2012 Cheer Registration Information
Beginning April 1st you can register on-line with a major credit/debit card or in person at Greenland Park. Check the registration section of our site for on-site registration dates and times. On-line cheer registration will remain open until June 1st. Cheer registration will officially close on June 1st in order to allow time for uniform ordering. Cheer registration is $150.00 and is due at the time you register. Competitive cheerleaders (JPW, PW, Jr. Midget & Midget) are required to pay a uniform deposit of $100 with the balance due once uniforms arrive. Your uniform cost must be paid in full prior to the start of the season. No refunds are given after June 1, 2012.
The following registration paperwork is to be turned in prior to the start of the season: Birth Certificate, full year 2011-2012 report card, 2012 participant contract & parental consent form and the 2012 Pop Warner physical form. The Player/Parent Consent form and the Physical form will be posted to the website once they’re available from Pop Warner.
General Information about the Cheerleading Season
Practice
Practices are held at Greenland Park and begin August 1nd at 6:15pm for all cheer squads. During August Tiny Mite cheerleaders will practice Monday, Tuesday & Thursday from 6:15 – 7:30pm. All other cheer squads practice Monday, Tuesday, Thursday & Friday from 6:15 – 8:30pm. In September, once the regular football season begins, Tiny Mite drops the Monday practice and all other cheer squads drop the Friday practice. If a practice is canceled due to inclement weather, that practice will be made up on the drop day. It is VERY important for the cheerleaders to be at EVERY practice. When one cheerleader is absent it affects the entire cheer squad. If you cannot make a practice for whatever reason, you are to contact your team mom and/or team sponsor and let them know. Excessive absences from practices & games can result in the cheerleader being removed from the squad.
Cheerleaders are required to wear athletic shoes that are tied and that do not have a wedge heel. Gym shorts (not jean shorts) or athletic-style Capri pants can be worn along with a light weight t-shirt or tank top. Hair needs to be pulled away from their face and be free of any barrettes and beads. Jewelry in any form is not to be worn during practices or games.
Football Games
Typically 50% of our football games are ‘away’ games. All of the ‘away’ games are in Jacksonville and are at other Pop Warner affiliated parks. The game schedule is released during the last week of August. Cheerleaders are to be at the park, away or home, 1 hour prior to game time and are to be in complete game day uniform. This allows the team mom and/or team sponsor to ready the cheerleaders for book check and to stretch/warm-up prior to game time.
Each cheer squad is assigned to a football team in their same age group. Cheerleaders are required to cheer at all home & away games and they can only cheer for the team they are assigned to. There are roughly 8 to 10 weeks of games depending on the age level and number of teams in the league. Cheerleaders in the Junior Pee Wee, Pee Wee, Junior Midget & Midget age groups are also required to cheer for their assigned football team throughout the post season and for Bowl games.
Weather
Our first concern is the safety of the children and parents. The Cheer Director will consider the weather conditions and determine if practice is possible. If you do not receive a phone call or email from your team mom/team sponsor, you are to report to the field. When inclement weather conditions prevent your squad from practicing at the field, we attempt to locate an indoor facility. MAA has a Field Director who monitors lightening in the area. If the lightening meter goes off, all football players & cheerleaders are removed from the practice field.
Uniforms (Game-Day, Competition & Practice)
Uniform fittings will be held for all cheerleaders at Greenland Park. Fitting times will be assigned by squad. Once registration closes, you will receive an email informing you of your squads fitting time & date.
Squad Assignment
Returning cheerleaders are kept together as a squad whenever possible. We regularly receive requests from cheerleaders & parents asking to be assigned to a particular squad. While we take certain things into consideration, it is the sole discretion of the Cheer Director as to what squad cheerleaders are assigned to.
Cheer Dual Participation
Pop Warner does not allow cheerleaders enrolled in a Pop Warner cheer program to cheer for any other squad. If your child participates on an all-star squad, they are not eligible to cheer at MAA. If it is discovered that your child is participating on another squad, they will be removed from the MAA squad and no reimbursement for registration, uniform or merchandise will be allowed. A child is permitted to take gymnastics, tumbling and cheer skills classes.
Competitions
All of MAA’s cheer squads participate in the Greater Jacksonville City Cheer/Dance Competition. A lot of hard work goes into getting the cheerleaders ready for this big day. The Tiny Mite and Mighty Mite cheerleaders perform at the City competition however they are not judged. This is an exciting opportunity for the younger cheer squads to see what the older girls do and what they can expect as they get older and grow up in the program.
In 2011 our MAA cheerleaders earned City Championship honors in the Midget Intermediate category. The Pee Wee Novice & Junior Midget Intermediate squads earned 2nd place honors. All of these cheer squads earned the right to advance to the Southeast Regional Cheer/Dance competition in Orlando over Thanksgiving weekend. All of our squads performed outstanding routines at the Regional competition. The Junior Midget Intermediate & Midget Intermediate squads earned Regional Championship honors. These 2 squads earned the privilege of competing at the National Cheer/Dance Competition at Disney’s Wide World of Sports where Junior Midget Intermediate earned 3rd place honors, Midget Intermediate earned 8th place honors.
Cheerleader Expectations
Our number one goal at MAA is for all cheerleaders to have fun and always give their best effort. We ask that cheerleaders practice their game cheers and competition routines whenever possible. We expect all cheerleaders to be ready to cheer when they come to practice and games. It is expected that each cheerleader bring their own drink to games & practices. It is also highly recommended that each cheerleader apply sunscreen before games.
Parent Participation
Each year we must rely on our member parents to help operate our concession stand. The concession operation is essential to the operation of our park and we need your assistance in operating it through the season. Each cheer squad is assigned a practice week where it is that teams responsibility to ‘work’ concession from 6:00 – 8:30pm. Your team mom and/or team sponsor will ask for parents to work concession. If you have or know of a teenager (15+) in need of volunteer hours for school, you may have them work concession for you. Any member of the Board of Directors can sign off on their volunteer forms. Alternatively, you can hire a teenager to work concession for you (see Concessionaire). For home football games, each squad is required to work the game before their child’s game.
Mandatory Cheerleader Id’s
In an effort to govern each Association and cheerleaders involved in the Pop Warner league, Pop Warner requires your teams coaching staff to maintain a ‘team-book’. Essentially the ‘team-book’ becomes the most important aspect of the team. The book contains all of the coaching certificates, team roster, each cheerleaders detailed information, paperwork (birth certificate, report card, physical, parent/player contract & utility bill) and rule book. The ‘team-book’ is present at every practice, game & competition.
Your team mom and/or team sponsor will notify you of the date we will be required to meet for the official certification of the cheerleader where their picture will be recorded to create the cheerleader ID card for the team’s book.
Important Financial Points
As you might imagine, operating an organization the size of MAA requires significant funding. MAA draws the funds required to operate each year from three primary sources; corporate sponsors, fundraising, and registration fees. We carefully structure our registration fees each year to be affordable for as many children as possible. Corporate sponsorships and fundraisers are then sought and used to meet the balance of our annual budget after registration.
While capping our registration fees allows more kids to be involved, it does not generate the funding needed to operate a full season. The solution to this challenge is a group effort. Rather than simply charging each parent a higher registration fee, each team is responsible to secure one corporate sponsor which is easily accomplished through our sponsor recognition and advertising program. As parents you will be asked to assist in achieving this accomplishment.
Remembering that we are an entirely volunteer organization, these three key components of meeting our budgetary requirements are used solely for the cost associated with operating our Park which we actually lease from the City of Jacksonville. The bulk of the annual maintenance and upkeep costs of operating the part are the responsibility of MAA. Some of these costs are:
- Pop Warner registration fees (Group Insurance)
- Coach and volunteer POP Warner mandatory clinics
- Trophies at the end of the season for every player
- A per player amount to be used for your year-end team party
- Coaches and volunteers mandatory background checks
- Referees for every team, every game & every weekend
- JSO Security at Greenland Park on game days
- Facility insurance
- Facility maintenance, building and equipment maintenance and costs
- Field and turf maintenance, sod, fertilizer, pest control
- Field equipment
- Field lighting and scoreboards
- Concession kitchen equipment, ice machines, freezers, fryers, etc.
Overall, our program is designed to be affordable for as many children as possible, while providing for a high caliber cheer program with equally impressive facilities, equipment and coaching. But we need your help as a member of MAA to achieve these goals. Get involved and everyone has a great season!
If you have questions please contact Jason.Peacock@letsgomaa.org
