Last week, I talked to you about how to make sure you’re getting ahead this month so you can regularly work on future tasks instead of creating cheer-mergencies. Today, I want to tell you what I’m working on this month to ensure I’m ready for the upcoming months of the hectic all-star season:

  • Getting the dates for fall/winter programs for our athletes. I’m not a fan of finding out the week prior to a competition that I’ll be missing three kids for a band concert. In fact, I am even less of a fan once I find out that schedule was provided to parents three months prior. So, I’ve stopped the madness by simply asking in our weekly email that all fall/winter program dates that will incur absences at practice or tumbling are submitted to me by Nov. 1. This allows me to put these dates on our all-star calendar and for our coaches to know well in advance if they’re going to be inevitably missing athletes the week before a competition. This also means if half the team will be gone and practice isn’t going to be effective, we can reschedule it with proper notice to those who would have otherwise been present.
  • Ensuring all background checks are up to date for coaches & print music licenses. Sure, our first competition is still 90 days out, but I don’t want to run into any issues with this stuff. A lot of times, background checks require coaches to set aside a few minutes to provide personal information. Planning ahead gives coaches a couple weeks grace to do so without me telling them to cancel grandma’s birthday because this is more important. As far as music licenses, we not only print these and have them on us at all competitions, but we also save a copy to Google Drive. We usually receive music this time of year, so it’s easy to download licenses along with our mixes. Why not just kill two birds with one stone?
  • Ordering hip hop costumes. For those without hip hop teams, this is a good reminder to place those reorders, conversion pieces, extra bows or any other items that came in and either didn’t fit the athletes or were the wrong size. For those who do have hip hop teams, the hardest part about dance is that if you’re ordering from a dance costume company, this is about the earliest you can order, as their apparel changes each season and can’t be guaranteed for the whole season until about this time of year.
  • Marketing half-year teams. My half-year teams begin in November, but we start marketing them the week after choreography when it’s likely we’ll no longer accept athletes on full-year teams. This ensures we don’t have to turn anyone away. A deposit also helps us fill teams confidently with athletes who are eager to cheer.
  • Scheduling choreography clean up for spring. Yes, I do this early because my parents and coaches will die if the only dates left are over Spring Break. 
  • Registering competitions that will occur prior to Dec. 15. In the Midwest, we start competing early, so it’s not unusual to compete in November. I always plan to register at least 90 days out. I don’t like paying extra, and I’m the weirdo who will mail a check to save $90 in credit card fees too. Every dollar counts to my families!
  • Booking hotels for the season. Again, I’m a good steward of our parents’ money, so we’re going to book early and book hotels that have no cancellation penalties, so if a general schedule releases and we realize we won’t need nights in hotels, we can cancel. However, by booking early, we can make better plans and get better rates. 
  • Outlining our team photo schedule. I book my photographers in the spring to take our photos in November, but about six weeks out, parents want to know what time photos will be so they know if they can commit to other things that weekend. After all, most have other children who are also in activities.

I won’t go into the details of our showcase, which has its own set of timelines and deadlines. It’s an ordeal, and in fact, Shelley and I taught a whole class on this in Orlando last year. The point here is that, as you can see, I’m regularly working ahead. My all-star checklist doesn’t have anything on it that is for September. All that stuff was done back in July (except the hip hop stuff—but even with that, I’ve mostly stopped ordering from dance catalogs that require me to wait that long. It’s just too stressful!)

So tell me, what are you working on this month? Do you still find yourself spending all day planning for something next week, or was that planned six weeks ago and you’re just reviewing to make sure it’s still good to go?

Key Takeaways:

  1. Proactive planning prevents last-minute stress: By working on tasks well in advance, such as gathering important dates and scheduling key events, you can avoid unexpected challenges during the hectic all-star season.
  2. Efficiency in operations: Taking care of logistical details like background checks, music licenses and hotel bookings early ensures smooth operations and helps you manage costs effectively.
  3. Strategic timing for marketing and registrations: Starting marketing efforts for half-year teams and registering for competitions well ahead of time helps secure participation and avoid unnecessary expenses.