Celebrate the end of the cheer season with a cheerleading banquet.
Cheerleaders help to cheer their school's sports team to victory, and at the end a season, it's important to recognize their efforts, too. Recognize the team members as individuals and leave them with a special gift to remember the season. Incorporate easy ideas that can be tailored to fit any school.
Awards
Students love to receive awards, so consider having the team vote on fun awards for each team member before the banquet. Then, at banquet time, team members can each receive an award. To do this, think of fun, creative awards for the students on your team. Some examples include the following:
Most Creative
Best Jumper
Best Dressed
Biggest Mouth
Most Likely to Drive Coach Smith Crazy
Most Flexible
Strongest Cheerleader
Most Likely to Cheer in College
Future Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader
Think of the same number of awards as you have cheerleaders, so that each student can get one. Write down the awards on a ballot and have each cheerleader vote for each award. At the banquet, give each cheerleader an award certificate with her name and award.
Banquet Gifts
Provide a gift for each cheerleader to commemorate the season. You could create the gifts together as a team beforehand, or use them as a surprise for the team during the banquet. You could also have special gifts that are specifically for the upperclassmen, seniors and/or captain(s). Gifts could be simple, such as a key chain or team pens, or you could do a more elaborate gift. Consider purchasing small frames from your local hobby or art store. Place the team or competition picture inside the frame. On the back of the frame, write a personal note for each team member. Or, you could encourage the team member to sign each other's frames. You could even have scrapbooks for your senior members and ask the other team members to write special notes in their books. In addition to team members, purchase a small gift for parents who helped out during the season.
Banquet Themes
Choose a theme for your celebration that matches the feel of your season. Use simple decorations to make the evening special for cheerleaders and parents. If your team had a winning season, call the banquet the "Winner's Circle," and decorate with checkered flags or anything related to car racing. If you had a tougher season, consider using the theme, "It's a Jungle Out There," and decorating with your mascot.
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