Claim OwnershipThe Cheerleading Junkie
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© Copyright 2026 Jill Markley
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The podcast for anyone who loves cheerleading! Jill Markley is a cheer addict, coach, and gym owner. Each week she interviews an expert who shares insight on a cheer topic - anything from tumbling instruction to fundraising to choreography etc.
35 Episodes
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On today's episode, Jill is joined by guests Lisa Rodriquenz and Jenn Spear to discuss things to consider when choosing an all star gym for the new season!
Jill talks about the value of routine upgrade sessions.
Jill talks about the need to have staff trained and ready in the event of injuries at the gym.
Jill talks all things choreography. She gives her take on choreographing routines for other organizations, working with choreographers on her own teams' routines, gives advice on working choreographers, and advice on how to prepare the athletes for choreography.
Jill discusses what she learned at Score Tour, put on by Deep South Spirit:How scoring is doneTips on how to grow a Cheer Gym
Jill talks about her experiences being an adult cheerleader and coaching adult cheerleaders.
NCA announced that College Nationals will remain at Daytona until 2030. Jill talks about why she loves the Nationals at Daytona.
SAS coaches went to Brandon Allstars for a weekend training program. Jill talks about the experience, the benefits of the training, and the takeaways.
Jill talks about whether parents should watch cheer practice, and about whether coaches/gym owners should allow it.
Jill talks about how to balance priorities when doing evaluations and placing athletes on teams.
Supernatural All Stars switched from the United scoring system to the Open Championship Series(OCS) three years ago. Jill discusses the reasons why she switched and why OCS is better for her gym.
Jill talks about the Let Them Theory and how it can be applied by gym owners, athletes and parents. This is a great tool to help people accept anything outside of their control and to move forward in a positive, constructive way.Link to the Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins:https://www.melrobbins.com/book/the-let-them-theory/
Jill discusses Open Houses: Why should a gym run an open house? Why should prospective cheerleaders go to one? What are the benefits from everyone's perspective.
Jill talks about how athletes should decide on being Prep vs Elite, and how to prepare for evaluations.
Jill talks about her process for awarding scholarships, and then goes on to discuss how she decides on team placements.
Jill discusses themes for naming teams. Her gym chooses a different theme each season rather than having team names carry over season after season. Why does she do this? Listen to find out.Jill also talks about why she believes it is important to do annual evaluations for all athletes.
Jill tells a story about one of her favorite team-building games and how it had a transformative effect on one of her teams, and particularly on one of her athletes, this season.
Jill talks about frustrations with best-day scoring at 2 day comps. She also talks about challenges with using social media to communicate with parents and athletes, and challenges with their use of social media.
Joanna Cuthbert is a coach, former program owner, and she also coached the Team England Adaptive Abilities team to Worlds in 2016 and 2017. She is currently the chair of the National Governing body for Cheer in England and she is the owner of Squad Safe. Check it out at www.squadsafe.org
Jeff Benson is the owner of Mind Body Cheer, a sports performance company that empowers athletes to achieve excellence.
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