Football season has come to an end… that means it’s time for some BASKETBALL! Did you know that there are a lot of fun Basketball drills for your team? Sounds crazy for cheerleading, but it can bring a different element to an ordinary team practice! Team-bonding practices are meant to be fun! Being a creative coach is important, especially to engage all members of your team. It’s always a great idea to partner teammates with people they don’t normally talk to or hang out with. Here are some ideas for a fun, basketball-themed cheer team-bonding practice!
IDEA #1: The Obstacle Course
Set up cones, some boxes or mats to climb and jump over in the gym, and pair it all with basketballs. Split up into pairs and have one partner blindfold the other. Have the blindfolded partner walk the course while the other cheerleader walks with them as a guide. Once one team completes the course, partners switch places and do the course again. It’s hilarious and helps teammates gain trust as well as improving communication skills.
IDEA #2: Golden Child
This drill is actually used for basketball teams. It uses half of a Basketball Court and you will need to divide everyone into two teams. One team will line-up at the free-throw line (or closer if you prefer). The other team stays on the outside of the court in whatever corner you want them to start at. The team at the free-throw line has 2-3 basketballs. Each player takes turns shooting to make a basket (Note: they will also need to shag their own basketballs and throw it back to the next player in line to shoot). While one team is shooting, the other team will be dribbling a ball, running around the outside half of the basketball court. If a player on the shooting team makes a basket, that team yells “freeze” alerting the running player to freeze, and the next runner to start running around the court. Usually the game is over once all the runners are frozen, but this might be a little hard if your team is not making a lot of baskets (if a player is frozen, the second runner can unfreeze them by tagging them as they run past). If you don’t necessarily have a sharp-shooting cheer team, you can state that the game is not over until all shooting team members make one or two baskets. Once someone makes a whole lap, call it a point. And, once the shooting team has all made one or two baskets, the team switches roles, and whoever has the most runs at the end wins.
IDEA #3: Basketball Tag
Ol’ fashioned tag with a basketball twist! Have 2-3 players that are ‘it’ and let the rest of the team be ‘dribblers’. The dribblers are dribbling around the basketball court while the players that are ‘it’ try and steal the dribblers’ balls. If the ‘it’ players are successful at stealing a basketball, they are now a dribbler and the dribbler is now ‘it’. Again, this improves communication and promotes teamwork.
