This course is open to participants aged 12-16 years, who are new to the world of coaching, and will be working as an assistant coach under a lead coach at their programme. This course is filled with interactive exercises and activities aimed to get junior coaches thinking about what their role is within their programme, and how they can be the best coach they can be. 

This course is the starting point for those who are entirely new to cheerleading, those who are transitioning to cheer from a different discipline such as dance or gymnastics, school & college tutors or for (former) athletes who are transitioning to coaching cheerleading.

This course takes you through all the policies and procedures you need to have in place in order to start and develop a successful programme, with room for discussion about communication with athletes and parents, designing a programme or team that meets the needs of your athletes, and a brief introduction into competing for those who are interested. The skills taught during this course include level 1 introductory stunting and tumbling skills, taught in stages of progression.

The course is in two parts. Firstly, you will complete a digital section on 5 Responsibilities of coaching. This content will be sent to you via email to complete in your own time before you attend the second part to the course. The second part will be delivered in-person in a live gym setting by our expert instructors and demo team. You are introduced to the skills below including drills and progressions showing the most effective and safest way to teach cheerleading. With a wealth of experience and knowledge, our instructors are on hand throughout this process and after the course to answer any questions.

• Ball stunt
• Ball stunt single leg variation
• Thigh stand
• Thigh stand one leg variation
• Smoosh and load
• Gut/waist level stunt
• Single leg gut/waist level stunt
• Show and go prep two feet
• 1⁄4 up to prep two foot variation
• Braced prep single leg
• Shoulder stands
• Dismounts- Cradle, bump down and prone cradle.

LEVEL 1 TUMBLES

• Tumble technique elements
• Arch/hollow
• Handstand
• Tumble lunge
• Hurdle step/power hurdle
• Athletic stance
• Bridge/backbend.
• Forwards and backwards rolls
• Handstand forwards rolls
• Backwards rolls through handstand
• Cartwheels
• Back walkovers
• Forwards walkovers
• Round offs.

This course is the next natural step on your coaching journey. This course is delivered the same day as level 1 and is a significant step on understand why level 1 is so important. We do offer the option to tale level 1&2 on the same day. The skills taught during this course include level 2 introductory stunting and tumbling skills, taught in stages of progression.

The course will be delivered in-person in a live gym setting by our expert instructors and demo team. You are introduced to the skills below including drills and progressions showing the most effective and safest way to teach cheerleading. With a wealth of experience and knowledge, our instructors are on hand throughout this process and after the course to answer any questions.

BGU LEVEL 2 STUNTS

• Extension
• Prep single leg
• Half up to prep
• Inversion stunts
• ¼ up to prep single leg
• Barrel roll
• Leap frog variations.
• Dismounts that will be covered, extension cradles and ¼ cradle from prep

BGU LEVEL 2 BASKET TOSSES

• Toss technique through trophy drills then into basket tosses.

BGU LEVEL 2 TUMBLING

• Front handspring
• Back handsprings
• Roundoff back handsprings.
• Other variations will be demoed on the day

• Extended single leg/one leg (Refresh level 2 at prep)
• Traditional & Adapted T & Half to single leg
• Smoosh/Load to Prep and Prep to Prep (Both to body position)
• Ball up to prone
• Ball up to prep
• Quick release progression
• Ball up to single leg/body position
• Switch up to prep level body position
• Needle to Lib
• Suspended forward roll (with twist and Suspended backward roll)
• Full twist from prep & extension
• 1 ¼ Full
• Pop off from prep to ground level

BGU LEVEL 3 BASKET TOSSES

• Basket toss technique with 1 trick

BGU LEVEL 3 TUMBLING

• Aerials 
• Jump BHS series
• Back tuck drills 
• Punch fronts 

This course is the next step up from our Level 3 course, and focuses on progressional skills in stunts, tosses and tumbling. This course allows you to spend time in a live gym setting with an experienced instructor and demo group. You are physically around the skills as they are taught and get to ask questions and trouble shoot along the way! Below are some of the fantastic drills and progressions that are taught. 

This course is the next step up from our Level 3 course, and focuses on progressional skills from Level 4 through to Level 6, emphasising the similarity in grips and coaching strategies between skills. We understand moving up levels can be challenging, especially if you have had no previous coaching experience! Our level 456 course is designed so you can take the level/s exam that suits your needs while also receiving experience on how we develop skills through levels using tried and tested drills and progressions. This course allows you to spend time in a live gym setting with an experienced instructor and demo group. You are physically around the skills as they are taught and get to ask questions and trouble shoot along the way! (IASF 456  are in alignment with BGU 456, ICU Advanced is in alignment with BGU Level 4, ICU 5 & 6 are in alignment with BGU Level 5 & 6 )

• Level 4
• Level 5
• Level 6
• Level 4&5
• Level 5&6
• Level 4,5&6

This course is the next step up from our Level 6 course.  Emphasising the similarity in grips and coaching strategies between skills. We understand moving up levels can be challenging, especially if you have had no previous coaching experience! This course allows you to spend time in a live gym setting with an experienced instructor and demo group. You are physically around the skills as they are taught and get to ask questions and trouble shoot along the way. 

This course is the next step up from our Level 3 course and the individual 4, 5 then 6 courses. This course focuses on progressional skills from Level 4 through to Level 6, emphasising the similarity in grips and coaching strategies between skills. We understand moving up levels can be challenging, especially if you have had no previous coaching experience in the levels. For more information on what skills and progressions are taught please see the individual course level drop down menus. The full level 4, 5 and 6 course allows you to spend time in a live gym setting with an experienced instructor and demo group. You are physically around the skills as they are taught and get to ask questions and trouble shoot along the way! 

• Level 4,5&6

• Pom Jazz Lyrical Original: this course is a fast-paced introductory course meant for dance teachers who are either new to dance/this dance genre, athletes transitioning to a coaching role, or experienced dance teachers who need a refresher. This course takes you through all the policies and procedures you need to have in place in order to start and develop a successful programme, with room for discussion about communication with athletes and parents, designing a programme or team that meets the needs of your dancers. The course then covers warm-up ideas, dance specific conditioning, flexibility, technical elements, a number of different skills and a discussion on preparation for performances and competitions.
  
  The dance technical elements that are covered are listed below, 
  – Jumps such as ToeTouch, Firebird, Ring and C jumps.
  – Leaps such as Jete, leaps in second, switch leaps and turning leaps such as C, calypso and spinning disk. 
  – Turns such as pirouettes, a la secondes and turning leg catches. 
  – Skills discussion on aerials, walkovers and lifts 
   
  The aim is to ensure that each dance teacher taking the course is comfortable and confident to go ahead and be able to quick fix problems and bad habits whilst also having the progressive knowledge to uplevel dancers once they have mastered the progressions. 
  

• Pom Jazz Lyrical Advanced: this course is for experienced dance coaches who are ready to take their programme to the next level. This course offers over 40 exercises to develop high level skills for elite dancers. A few examples of technical elements that are covered are, change spot a la second turns (fast and slow spot), Seconde floats, an advanced variation on switch leaps, connecting pirouettes, front aerials and many more. The course goes into depth on how to build an elite dancer covering conditioning elements that boost dancers control in specific skills in order to progress safely. The course also dives into important aspects for coaches developing competitive teams or professional dancers, such as motivation, nutrition and building a strong mindset for elite dancers. The perfect course for pushing your programme to the next level and preparing dancers for professional training.
• Teachers must either hold BGU Pom Jazz Lyrical original course or have an approved dance qualification . Please contact dance@buildingfromthegroundup.com if you do not hold our BGU qualification and we can assist.

Hip Hop Original: This course will have you dancing for hours! The BGU Hip Hop course is an introductory course meant for coaches who are either new to dance/this dance genre, athletes transitioning to a coaching role, or experienced dance coaches who need a refresher. This course talks you through the origin of a number of street dance styles, such as House, locking, popping and many more. Each coach will experience how to develop groove technique, whilst pushing for correct technical elements of each style. This will be in the form choreographed combinations given by the instructor for each coach to try. This course will leave each coach armed with a repertoire of styles and skills to build your own hip hop routines ready for performances, battles and competitions.

Our focus courses aim to provide specific content to allow you to grow and develop as a coach within your discipline. Focus courses are cheer oriented but have applications in dance, gymnastics/tumbling and other movement disciplines.

• Foundations S&T: our Foundations course is aimed for coaches who are teaching the age group of 3-6yr olds. This course is perfect for coaches who are used to coaching school-age children or older athletes and are transitioning to a younger age group- or coaches who are new to coaching in general and are looking for a deep dive into the minds of younger children. The course is split into two parts – the first part is about the psychology and communication of working with younger athletes and their families. The second part covers 10 tumbling and stunting skills that will allow coaches to build up their own lesson plans with. This course is also a great starting point for Junior coaches who are new to communicating with young children or building lesson plans.
• Foundations D&P: Alike our sister course Foundations S&T, this course is also aimed at coaches who teach 3-6yr olds. With the main focus being to develop children’s understadning of dance technique and performance requirements. The course works on how to plan a dance session delving into detail on how to keep engagement whilst challenging each age group with appropriate level dance skills. The course works on building confidence in each performer through use of lyrics in BGU’s dance and performance personal play list. This course will leave each coach, refreshed with ideas on how to safely develop 3-6yr olds dance technique whilst ensuring confidence in performance.
• SEND Course (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities): INFORMATION COMING SOON!

• Cheer Strength Module 1: The first in this multi-module series, Cheer Strength Module 1 takes a deep dive into the main muscle groups in our bodies, and how we should be training them in order to build effective athletes in a safe environment.

• Please note: Proof of training can only be used towards BUILDING FROM THE GROUND examinations/qualifications. The training will become exempt if used to gain any other qualification/certification.
• Please note: When training/competing, check your BGU qualifcation level against the rules & guidance used by the event producer/organiser/insurance.