Positive Coaching Helps This Cheer Team Form a Closer Bond
As the rookie team in the city of Burbank, David Starr Jordan Middle School needed to learn all that they could in a short amount of time to play catch up with the other teams. Lately, the hard work has been paying off. Last year, they ranked in the top 3 at the USA Jr. Nationals for the very first time.
“To see the girls faces, to have that achievement … that moment… just made the whole year worthwhile. I think they finally realized what it takes and what it feels like to really achieve your goals.” — Catherine Eskandar, Coach
Coach Catherine, who also teaches 6th-grade math at the school, guides and takes care of her team. Her energy and compassion for her cheerleaders keep them united and inspires them to strive for greatness.
“I want to make sure that they see that I’m committed as well just to show that we’re all in it… as a team.” — Catherine Eskandar, Coach
“The coach that I have, she tries to make everything better for the team…she always tells us to have a great attitude” —Grace, David Starr Jordan Cheerleader
With a team of 30 girls, Coach Catherine has to keep track of everyone on top of her duties as a math teacher. Before she joined BAND, she had all of the parents on the team write down their emails and had to transcribe them herself — oftentimes, she couldn’t read their handwriting, so she was unable to reach them.
Even when she could, cheer emails would get lumped in math class, so it would take hours to keep track each day. Parents would wait until after work to check their email, and many complained that things were hard to track on their end. Sometimes, the team would miss events entirely because they weren’t able to gather enough parents.
With BAND, it’s much easier for Coach Catherine to manage parent communications, so there’s more participation at events outside of practice. Parents are much more receptive because they can quickly hop on their phones to see information and offer to help out if necessary.
BAND also helps the team grow closer together. Coach Catherine can post all of the information on BAND and the cheerleaders can leave comments and ask questions. With BAND, the girls feel more empowered to help each other out instead of running to the coach because all of the information is easily available.
BAND helps cheerleaders stay connected to teammates both new and old, so they can talk and bond with each other. Before, Coach Catherine would have to send pictures to each family individually.
With BAND, the group Photo Album allows her to share them with everyone, so the cheerleaders and their families can see all of the pictures from their practices and events.
The girls enjoy using the Poll to decide on outfits and whether they’re able to attend certain events. It gives the girls an easier way to feel like their decision really matters, and that they’re being heard by the rest of the team.
“I love the team, I love the bonding the team is having. We’re all like sisters, and it’s just exciting and fun.” — Grace, DSJ Cheerleader
Girls who step up and become active on BAND become leaders, and the team is able to work together to tackle problems before turning to the coach for answers.
Even if the girls aren’t connected on social media or via phone, BAND gives them an easy way to communicate. Having a direct line to the coach through BAND helps the girls feel more organized, and gives them the confidence they need to be ready for events and competitions.
“When my coach sends me positive feedback, I know that I’m ready to go.” — Grace, DSJ Cheerleader
