I'm going to be a sophomore next year and I'm transferring schools. I did not try out for current school's pom team because they only take girls who've had a middle school experience in pom or a couple years of dancing. I did have the experience in dance, but I fractured my leg before tryouts. My new school is going to have a pom team for the first time next year and the principal already wants me to try out for pom. I have twelve years experience of ballet, two years of modern lyrical, two years of kick line, and three years of dancing professionally. A lot of people have said it won't be hard for me to make varsity, but ever since fracturing my leg last year, I haven't been able to do the left splits, center splits, or a toe touch. I have four months until tryouts. What should I work on before tryouts in August?

Did you have a kick line in middle school? That's unusual.

First of all, I have never known a principal to have any direct involvement with who makes the pom team. So my advice is to see if you can find out who the sponsor is, and ask HER what you need to work on for the audition. Every team has different requirements. Since it's their first year, you probably won't be expected to do anything outrageous. But like I said, you shouldn't ask us - you should ask whoever is in charge of the audition.

And work on your splits. Good luck

Totally read that as 'Porn Tryouts'. Sorry.

I went to a private school in middle school, so I didn't have one, but the public schools did have a team that wasn't directly affiliated with the school. I know that they had classes from my high school's pom team though.

I would definitely work on your toe touches as much as possible...they're a pretty standard thing for pom teams.

For my high school poms team, we needed the following skills:

Double/Triple Pirouette
A la secondes
Fouettes
Kicks
Right Leap
Left Leap
Calypso
Toe Touch
Russian Leap (side leap)
Right Splits
Left Splits
Center Splits

We also learned a dance that was 4 8-counts Jazz, 4 8-counts Pom, and 4 8-counts hip-hop.

Poms are VERY versatile dancers, so I would suggest taking any and all classes available to you as possible, including any pom workshops/clinics offered by the team or your studio.

Just to let you guys know, tryouts got bumped up to next week. So I'm trying out on the second and third of June. I met the coach and talked with her about what I needed to be able to do-she pretty much told me as long as I had my splits and could dance, she'd be happy to have me on the team. Since it's the first year, she's not expecting a lot; she's cutting us some slack. I managed to get my toe touch down (it was only perfect once, but it was a toe touch regardless) and I've been conditioning for tryouts by practicing and working out every day. So wish me luck (:

Good luck! Poms is SOO much fun; I started practices on the 11th and I love it! You will make such great friends who share your passion for dance. And that is great that you got your toe touch. YAY! Good luck, and don't forget to SMILE!!

Thanks (: now I was just wondering...how do I keep it consistent? I've only done it full out once. My friend told me the adrenaline rush from the try out will help me get it, but I just wanted to make sure...

What your friend said about that adrenaline rush is SOO true! In fact, my adrenaline rush helped me nail a triple when the choreographer asked me to do one during my tryout! I would just keep practicing so that you can go in there confident in your skills. Also, make sure to keep your eyes on something high on the wall, this keeps you from dropping your chest and helps to bring your toes to your hands, as opposed to your hands to your toes. It is much more aesthetically appealing, and makes your jump look way higher.

I made varsity!!! They were impressed by my high kicks I guess. What surprised me the most was that I was able to get down my toe touch and my pretzel drop, which reaaally hurt the first time I did one. I may be pretty sore, but at least I made the team. Anyway, practice begins and week and we get our uniform fit..since it's the first year the school has a team, we get brand spanking new ones thanks for all of the advice, and I'm sure I'll he using it for the rest of my pom career in high school

YAY! I'm so happy for you. Poms is so much fun, you're going to love it.

Happy Dancing!