Blog

We've asked some of our coaching friends to share their unique insights with you for this new series: EXPERT COACHING TIPS. In case you missed it, last week we talked about how to create the best practice!

This week, we're talking about planning for the season. We know that coaching a dance team involves A LOT of coordination and details. From tryouts to practices to designing costumes... there's a ton to keep track of and get organized. To help, see what these expert dance team coaches had to say about staying on top of planning!

The best part of our jobs is working with extremely talented dance, skate and cheer coaches. They play an integral role in supporting the team - through motivation, encouragement, and wisdom. We know that coaching can be a challenging yet very rewarding job!

We've asked some of our coaching friends to share their unique insights with you for this new series: EXPERT COACHING TIPS. This week, we're talking about practice. See what some of these expert dance team coaches had to say, below!

We know that planning for an upcoming season can be a challenging yet exciting time!  When it comes to your team's dance costumes, there are many questions. Where do you start?  What information do you need!  Luckily it's pretty simple.  All you need to get started with designing a dance costume are these four things: budget, time frame, quantity, and concept.  Read on to learn more!!

Whether you dance in a studio, on a football field, or on a gym floor, odds are you are working hard to plan for your competition season. One key element to any performance is, of course, the Score Card. While every competition has different scoring standards, there are several aspects of competition dance that are consistent across the board. Take a look at these six common mistakes that will zap your dance competition score and decide for yourself if they apply to your team!

Western Michigan Dancers reordered their 2015 gameday top (left) in 2016 (right).  Photo credit: WMU Dance Team.

A new season means new team members - Yeah!!  What are they going to wear? If you're like many teams on a budget, you're likely going to re-use last year's dance costumes, but will need to order a few more. Maybe you need a few more of a popular size. Or you just accepted more members than the year before. Either way, a good costume company will be able to help accommodate your dance costume re-order needs!

Here are 6 tips on planning for your next uniform reorder:

Hockettes Junior (left)  and Team Delaware Junior (right) teams went all out on rhinestones for their custom skate dresses - something only Junior, Senior, and Collegiate teams can do!

Last November 2015, the USFSA updated the official Synchronized Skating costume guidelines.  If you’ve taken a look at the guidelines, you know that they tend to be vague.  For good reason too - it allows for artistic interpretations by teams based on their region and performance choices.   Here's guiding principle:

"The costumes of the competitors must be modest, dignified and appropriate for athletic competition, not garish or theatrical in design. Costumes may, however, reflect character of the music chosen."