One of the many things I’ve learned over my years as a cheer coach is to expect the unexpected. When you are in charge of wrangling a large group of cheerleaders (at any age), there is always something that could go wrong. In the hustle and bustle of game days or competition days, someone is bound to forget to pack something and spills, snags, and scrapes can happen at any time, especially in a sport like ours.
When hiccups like this arise, having items on hand to help solve the problem quickly can prevent a lot of stress and worry. Whether you are a coach, a captain, a team parent, or just want to make sure your personal cheer bag is stocked and ready, check out this list of must-haves for your cheer emergency kit.
When creating the cheer emergency kit for your team, it should be small and easily portable. If it is too big or bulky, you aren’t going to want to lug it around which defeats the purpose. Ideally it is a small pack such as a travel toiletry bag that you can slip into your backpack.
This pouch is great because it is clear and easy to see what is inside without having to unpack it, and it also comes in a variety of trim colors to match your team colors.
Just keep small quantities (1-3) of everything and restock from your supply as needed throughout the season.
What to pack in your cheer emergency kit
- Bobby pins, Hair ties, Mini rubber bands – get a travel case that is prefilled like this one, or just find a small zipper pouch to pack some of what you already have on hand.
- Extra bow(s) – you never know when a bow might break, someone will say “I thought we were wearing the [other color] bow today!”, or simply forget to pack it.
- Tampons/pads – When I began coaching, I seriously underestimated the number of times a kid would look at me panic-stricken in the middle of a game because mother nature showed up unexpectedly. Maybe just keep the whole box of tampons in your bag? I’m only halfway kidding about that.
- Spandex – See above point. It happened to me right before a pep rally one time, it has happened to several of my kids mid-game…it will be a huge relief to everyone to have these with you. (Also maybe a plastic bag. If a kiddo needs the spare spandex, there’s a good chance that they don’t just want to throw the ones they are changing out of into their bag on top of their other stuff.) Ah the joys of womanhood!
- Emergency rain poncho for coach – A dollar well spent when that pop up storm rolls through during football season. Though you can use it for yourself, I often find myself reaching for the emergency poncho to wrap up my backpack. During one super rainy game, my backpack got soaked all the way through and my comp routine sheets ended up growing mildew – yuck!
- Tide pen – Tell me why I made my team buy baseball jerseys to wear over their uniforms at competitions while they eat, and my kids still managed to get food on their uniforms?! *facepalms into eternity*. Teenagers will be teenagers, and when they inevitably get something on the one white detail on their uniform, the tide pen will save you extra time with the spray ‘n’ wash later.
- One or two makeup remover wipes – Even though it is not as environmentally friendly, the little individually wrapped wipes are perfect for your kit. The bigger pack always seems to dry out before we can use the whole thing, so for our team, it is less wasteful to use the smaller ones.
- Hairspray – one of those things you can never have too much of
- Couple dollars for snacks/drinks – Even though many schools are adding credit card options to their concession stands, it never fails that the one game that one of my kids forgets their water bottle or didn’t have time to eat before a game is also the day that I don’t have any cash on me. Just $5 for a gatorade or snack in case of emergency is all you need.
- Tylenol/Advil packets – if you are a cheer coach, check with your admin first to make sure you are allowed to administer these to your kids! These are the most requested item on my team; however, I am not allowed to give them to my students, so I don’t have any in our kit.
- Travel sewing kit – they just don’t make uniforms like they used to, and I frequently find myself restitching the hem in a uniform during a game. In addition to a travel sewing kit, I would pack additional thread just in your team’s uniform colors. If you can’t find a small enough spool of thread to fit in your kit, cut a small piece of cardstock or thin cardboard and wind the thread around it yourself.
- Nail kit – I allow my team to wear nail polish (post on this coming soon!), so I don’t have to worry about polish remover. However, I do still keep a nail kit in our kit with a clipper and file in case of broken nails and rough edges
- Small first aid kit – or just lots of band aids – My first aid kit isn’t super extensive (operating under the assumption that there will always be an athletic trainer at our events), but I do keep our kit stocked with LOTS of bandaids and antiseptic wipes.
- iPhone dongle/aux adapter – At one of our competitions, they insisted that we bring our music on our phones…but the DJ didn’t have an adapter to connect them to the aux input. The competition organizer had no idea that there were phones that didn’t use the standard input (This was 2021…I was confused too). Luckily one coach from another school packed one and was kind enough to share with the rest of the teams, but you bet I showed up to every other competition that season with my dongle! (every other DJ already had one on hand, thank goodness!)
- Bug spray for football season – Though you know what to expect on your home field, going to away football games is always a toss up when it comes to the bug situation. One school we play has a major sweat bee problem on the visitor side every year, and a couple others have really bad gnats (okay, one of those is our home field). Going forward, bug spray is a must for us!
While there are lots of other items that you could add to your kit depending on your team’s specific needs (lash glue, team lipstick, face tattoos or glitter) these items are the one my team most frequently requests. Remember when packing your cheer emergency kit that if it gets too big and bulky, you will be less likely to want to lug it around, which will defeat the purpose. Stick to just a few of the most essential items and you will be ready to put out those little fires when they arise.
