Tryouts will be held in the spring immediately after the basketball team has completed the season.  High school seniors will participate in a first round selection by DVD/videotape with those selected coming to Fayetteville (at their own expense) to tryout with the on campus students.  A panel of 3 to 4 judges including the squad advisor and coach will make the selection of finalists. 

On campus students will have an informational meeting before spring break that will include the dates/times of the clinics that are held the week before tryouts. 

Tryouts will consist of a personal interview and a skills demonstration.  Two panels of six judges each will be selected for each phase of tryouts.  The interview judges will be selected from University and Northwest Arkansas community area.  They are asked to evaluate the applicant’s poise, appearance, interpersonal skills, and communication skills. The skills judges will be selected based on their knowledge, experience, and expertise in the areas of cheer and dance.   The scores from the high and low judges are dropped and a total of the scores from the middle four judges will be used for the selection of squad members.

The panels will consider the following general areas when selecting each squad:

Cheerleaders:
Ability to lead a crowd
Appearance and poise
Spirit and enthusiasm
Coordination and rhythm
Motions/technique
Partner stunts
Chants
Tumbling
Personal interview

Pom:
 Appearance and poise
 Spirit and enthusiasm
 Coordination and rhythm
 Kicks, splits, turns, leaps
 Dance technique
 Creativity in choreographing dances
 Personal interview

Mascots: 
 Ability to involve crowd
 Spirit and enthusiasm
 Dance ability
 Pantomime
 Utilization of the suit
 A good understanding of mascots duties
 Personal interview

All persons selected into the finals for any squad will be required to go through a personal interview to ascertain how well they will represent our University.  Public relations, friendliness, positive attitude, willingness to help others and school spirit and enthusiasm are musts for those who are selected as members of our spirit squads. 

All scoring sheets, score sheet descriptions, copies of all forms, procedures, etc. will be posted at every session during the tryouts and the clinic preceding the tryout.  All participants are required to read all forms and are urged to ask questions or seek clarification of any part they do not understand.  The advisor and coach are always available to help.

The judge’s scores will select the top five males and females for the Cheer Red squad. One or two alternate couples will be selected by the advisor and coach based on the following:  general composition of the squad, consideration of physical size, academic grade point standing, tryout score and needs of the squad.  These Cheer Red members must be selected from the students who meet the eligibility requirement for Cheer Red.  After the selection of the alternates the next five scores for male and female will be used to select the Cheer White squad.  These scores are selected from all other applicants including the high school seniors.  As with the Cheer Red squad the advisor and coach may select one or two alternate couples based on the same criteria. 

The judge’s top ten scores will be used to select the Pom Red squad.  Two alternate members will be selected by the advisor based on the following:  general composition of the squad, academic grade point standing, tryout score and needs of the squad.  These Pom Red members must be selected from the students who meet the eligibility requirements for Pom Red.    The next ten scores will be used to select the Pom White/RBI squad.  As with Pom Red, two alternate members will be selected by the advisor based on the same criteria as Pom Red.   The Pom White squad will be selected from all other applicants including the high school seniors.   As indicated in the information under “Composition of the Squads” the advisor and coach may choose additional squad members in the late fall/early spring before the RBI girls begin their season.

In the event of a tie score during any tryout, the student with the highest cumulative GPA will be awarded the position.  If they are still tied after GPA, the person with the highest technique score will receive the position.

If a preliminary tryout is required, the current members of Cheer Red and White and Pom Red and White will be awarded a bye to the final tryout.  They can go through the prelim if they so choose, but it is not required. 

In the event that only one person tries out for a particular mascot position (or a limited number tryout for the cheer/pom squad), applicants will not be put on the squad just to fill places.  Prior to the actual tryout those students will be informed of the minimum score they must attain to make the squad.  The advisor and coach will then readvertise and hold an additional tryout at a later date (or hold individual auditions) to fill the remaining places on the squads.

All applicants must be in good health and capable of performing all skills of cheerleading and dance safely.  Each member must have and document a physical examination before participating in the pre-camp workweek each summer.

Tryouts for Cheer Red, Pom Red, Big Red, BOSS HOG, Pork Chop and Sue E. will be open to all second semester freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors enrolled in and taking classes at the University of Arkansas that meet the qualifications for membership.  These mascots cheer for Razorback football, basketball, Ladyback basketball, volleyball and gymnastics and the time and travel commitments are too great for a freshman.  Therefore, high school seniors are not eligible for Cheer Red, Pom Red, Big Red , Ladyback Big Red and BOSS HOG, Sue E. or Pork Chop. 

Tryouts for Cheer White, Pom White/RBI, are open to all students eligible for the squads above, transfer students, and high school seniors (who are invited to tryouts by the squad advisor and coach or selected from the video tape tryout).  High School seniors interested in participating in the video tryout should check the cheerleader website www.razorbackspiritsquads.net  or the athletic department website www.hogwired.com and/or contact Jean Nail at 479-575-6534 or jnail@uark.edu to receive tryout information.