"Encourage your dancers to show interest in a program before the tryout date. College coaches want to know that dancers are truly interested in their program and educated on what makes their program unique and have done their homework! There is a difference between wanting to be on A dance team and wanting to be on THAT dance team. Coaches can tell the difference and will most certainly ask you WHY you want to be on their team specifically. Help your dancers figure out their reasons for wanting to attend a school or be a part of a specific program before tryouts! Help them hone in on what they want out of a program: Game day experience big school vs. small, competing in hip hop, jazz or pom, emphasis on nationals vs. game day experience, UDA vs. NDA, etc. Dancers should do research to find out the best way to contact the coach or assistant coaches. Bottom line - each program is different and should be treated so! Coaches want to know that dancers can follow directions and step one of that is to pay attention to deadlines when it comes to the tryout process! Do your research, read the email, pay attention, put your best foot forward! Attend as many clinics as possible in order to get face time with the coach, show your interest and make sure that the program is a good fit for you! High School coaches - start those conversations with your dancers early. If you have several dancers interested in one school, reach out to the coach directly and start a rapport with them. Ask the college coach to attend a practice or teach a master class for you if they are nearby so you can start a relationship with that coach and help create a bridge for your dancers!"

"Start treating your upper-classmen as adults now in preparation for college. They should be held responsible for their actions and interaction with their parents should be limited. Encourage them to reach out to coaches of college programs themselves and not have their parents do so on their behalf. Part of being on a college team is proving that you are an adult who can function independently and an email directly from the dancer is the first step! This is your first impression! High school coaches can help dancers write those emails to make sure they are professional and clear! Reaching out on instagram is not the first impression you want to make because it can be viewed as too casual and not the professional note you want to convey. You never know who runs an instagram account so the best bet is to reach out to the coach via email and set the tone for a great relationship that starts with professionalism and enthusiasm. Encourage your dancers to come to you before communicating with a college coach to get your feedback on their method of communication and what they have chosen to say. College coaches receive tons of emails every day - how can your dancers set themselves apart and show their sincere interest? Emails without a subject line or specific greeting (know the coach's name), that are too conversational, that ask questions easily found on the website or that are written by a parent can be easily disregarded and put to the back burner. High School coaches have a great opportunity to help their dancers communicate in a way that will set the tone for their college career and professional life after graduation!'

"College dance team auditions may be a young dancers' very first professional interview experience. It can be nerve-wracking and extremely overwhelming. Many dancers try hard to give the "perfect answer" or what they think the panel wants to hear. Coaches and judges want to get to know you! Don't be afraid to be authentic to tell the judges you are nervous because you care! They don't want to see a perfect facade, they want to see a human being and they want to know that this is important to you - enthusiasm and authenticity go a long way. High School coaches can practice interviews with their seniors by giving them sample questions and helping them to reflect on who they are as a person, what their strengths and weaknesses are and what they can add to a collegiate program. This will help them with college auditions but also for their professional life after college!"

"Most all college dance teams list technical elements required to audition on their website. Encourage your juniors and seniors to come to your practice with a list of technical elements required by all teams they are interested in auditioning for and implement them into practice if you can. If you cannot implement them into practice, encourage your dancers to work on their own time, put in extra time at their studio or even reach out to someone for private lessons, possibly a current or former collegiate dancer. Every team is different, so doing that research ahead of time is important. For instance, many teams now require a side aerial to try out for a team. This is information dancers will need ahead of time so they can take time to learn a new skill safely and correctly. Coming prepared with these technical skills is another way to demonstrate preparedness, enthusiasm and professionalism! You can also encourage your dancers to attend combines held by Varsity or other companies to improve skills and get real feedback from college coaches. The more prepared they are the better they will feel when auditions roll around! Encourage upperclassmen to get a jump start on perfecting those skills!"

"Encourage your team to treat performance like a technical element in your routine. When you go full out, you wouldn't just skip the triple pirouette, so why would you skip the performance? The sooner that is ingrained in them, the better they will do, not only at college tryouts but on a college team in general. Many college dance teams perform in front of tens of thousands of fans at sporting events and on the nationals stage. Both of these experiences can be overwhelming, especially during competition when dancers are worried about executing difficult skills. If performance is already ingrained in them, it will be an easier transition. Dancers should never be afraid of over-performing. Most coaches have the mindset that you can always tone someone down but it is really difficult to ask someone to perform that isn't used to it and can sometimes feel like pulling teeth. As a high school coach, I would make sure this is part of everyday practice and will truly help dancers transition to college and will be vital in the audition process!"