I was a member of my high school pompon team for four years and a member of the All Star team. Poms was a great passion of mine and I was excited when the varsity coaching position opened up in my school district. I loved working with the girls and having the opportunity to spend time with former students. When I first started coaching, the team did not consistently make it to the state level competition. During the five years I coached, the team not only qualified for the state completion every year, but placed among the top five teams each year. The team won the state championship title my last year coaching. I also added other competitions to our schedule, including high kick and other pompon competitions.
Technology played a huge role in helping the team reach our goal of becoming state champions. We watched videos from past state winners from all levels, and looked at what other teams were doing well. I also regularly taped practices and performances so that as a team, we could look at our strengths and weaknesses and formulate the steps we needed to accomplish to reach our goal. Music also played an important role in poms. Obtaining the right music can have a huge impact on a performance. I liked to use a mixture of songs to create various effects during routines, and I still use these skills to help cut music for the current team’s coach.
Coaching offered me a place to continue to work with students beyond the classroom. It presented an opportunity to work in an area I was passionate about and to share that passion with others. It also gave me a chance to use technology resources in other areas besides the classroom.
Technology played a huge role in helping the team reach our goal of becoming state champions. We watched videos from past state winners from all levels, and looked at what other teams were doing well. I also regularly taped practices and performances so that as a team, we could look at our strengths and weaknesses and formulate the steps we needed to accomplish to reach our goal. Music also played an important role in poms. Obtaining the right music can have a huge impact on a performance. I liked to use a mixture of songs to create various effects during routines, and I still use these skills to help cut music for the current team’s coach.
Coaching offered me a place to continue to work with students beyond the classroom. It presented an opportunity to work in an area I was passionate about and to share that passion with others. It also gave me a chance to use technology resources in other areas besides the classroom.