High school dance is a sport through the MSHSL, following the same rules and guidelines of athletic participation as any other high school sport.
Standards and Expectations for Athletes:
Be a kind and caring teammate
Be committed
Be a coachable athlete
Work hard
Show up on time
Take care of your body
Respect and trust your coaches
Work hard inside and outside of practice
Make good choices
Have Fun!
Standards and Expectations for Parents/ Fans:
Build positive relationships with other parents
Veteran parents help rookie parents through their first year
Spread positivity about the team
Offer a helping hand in volunteer opportunities
Support your dancer as well as their teammates and coaches
Cheer on the team the best you can
Enjoy the opportunity to watch your child dance
Have Fun!
Tryouts take place in the fall. They are based on a point system to help the dancers better understand what level they are currently at on the team. All dancers that attend tryouts will receive a copy of their score sheet. This lets them know where they currently rank, and skills they need to improve on for the next season.
Placements are never permanent: The coaching staff reserve the right to adjust a dancers placement within the overall team at any time during the season. There are various reasons why a placement may be changed.
Dance is a very detail oriented sport that requires a lot of technique and experience. Being placed on a specific squad in the beginning of the season, does not determine which one you end the
season with. Each dancer is placed on the squad that will appropriately benefit and challenge them to the best of their ability.
Varsity Kick Requirements:
- Pointed toes, and kick above shoulder height consistently without a bent knee and proper upper body posture.
- Execute a proper toe touch
- Land a Triple pirouette consistently
- Know the difference between and execute Right and Left skills
- Good faces and energy Levels
- Adapt to and pick up choreography and formation changes quickly
Varsity Jazz Requirements:
- Execute toe touches and leaps with proper technique.
- Land a triple pirouette consistently
- Land a quad Pirouette
- Minimum 4 a la seconds into a triple pirouette consistently.
- Execute a 2 eight count turn set.
- Box and Float turns
- As well as all of JV Jazz Requirements.
JV Jazz Requirements:
- Land a triple pirouette with proper technique
- Know how to do a calypso and execute it properly
- Three A La Seconds into a Double
- Know difference between left and right skills
- Box Turns
- Be in formation of a Varsity routine for 80% of the year (either Jazz or Kick or Both)
- Have passing grades throughout the season
- Follow the chemical rules of the MSHSL & LFCHS eligibility policy
- Have no unexcused absences
- Uniforms are school property for dancers to wear and return at the end of the season.
- We understand that damage to uniforms can be accidental, if you notice damage to your uniform please let coaches know so we can fix and replace the uniform accordingly.
- Do not cut tags off the uniforms, we need to know the sizes for future
use.
- If your uniform needs to be washed please let a coach know and do not attempt to wash it yourself.
- Do not eat with your uniform on and do not wear your uniform under your warm ups. It is important to keep them as clean as possible without any rhinestones, fringe, or sequins falling off.
If uniforms are turned in with any damage, or turned in late the athlete will be expected to pay for the uniform. Uniforms are custom made for our team, replacing them is not cheap.
Our attendance policy is based on a point system that is broken down below. Please remember that your performance time may be affected if you do not follow the attendance policy.
Excused Absences (1pt)
- Includes family emergency or matter that has been discussed prior with the coaches. Funerals, School related events that are part of a grade (band and choir are 0pt absences), absence from school for being sick.
- Please know for an absence to be excused it needs to be discussed with the coach at least 24 hrs prior, With the exception of illness and family emergencies. (band concerts, school related events at least 1 week ahead). When an athlete is communicating with coaches as to why they will be gone it needs to be a valid reason. “I won't be at practice today” or similar statements won’t be acceptable.
- Please understand that even if your absence is excused, you are still not present at practice which will make you a day behind if changes to the routine were made. You are responsible to learn these changes in order to perform if the excused absence is up to 2 days before a competition. This includes coming to the next practice and showing us you are ready to compete when practice starts.
Unexcused Absences (2pts)
- Any family matter not involving an emergency (Vacation, shopping etc), Work, not showing up to practice without any logical excuse. It is the dancers responsibility to connect with coaches, not the parents.
-Athletes are expected to attend the entire practice. Leaving early is only acceptable if it is dependent on a school grade or family emergency. A dancer communicating this with the coaches the day of
is not acceptable (unless in the case of a familiy emergency). Leaving early to go to a sporting event, JFK (Amy Gunderson Excuses all HS dancers to be late or gone if needed), work, shopping, going out to eat, etc... are not excused.
Additional Points:
- Show up on time with appropriate practice clothes and hair = 0
- Late to practice or leave practice early = 0.5
- Hair not done for practice = 0.5
- Not dressed appropriately for practice = 0.5
- Excused absence = 1
- Unexcused absence = 2
- Attendance is added up week by week, if you have a 2 by Friday you
will have to sit out of the next upcoming performance. If a dancer has a 1 or 1.5 before Friday coaches will be in contact with the dancer to make them aware of the situation.
If you as an athlete want others to take our sport seriously, the best way to start is dressing like a proper athlete. Dress like you care, and want to be taken seriously. Similarly to having a job, you would need to adhere to a dress code. Have the same mind set for practice.
Practice Clothing - Leggings, shorts, Tank top, Tshirt, both jazz and tennis shoes.
Coordinated practice attire - Dancers please plan to wear all black on days we have the weight room (TBD) and Every Friday practice before a competition. Captains will send reminders on the dancer Band app at least until we get into a routine.
Shoes - ATHLETIC LACE UP Tennis shoes and/or jazz shoes. NO Crocs, Vans, Converse, Dudes, slip ons, etc. Please bring both Tennis shoes and Jazz shoes to all competitions & practice every day.
Hair - Tight low bun will be required for practice, NO braids or ponytails (can whip/hit yourself or others in the face).
By our first week of practice your hair needs to be long enough to put in a bun, you can not perform at a competition without your hair in a bun. (exceptions for medical conditions)
MSHSL Performance Rules and Guidelines
Jewelry - MSHSL rules state dancers can not wear earrings, necklaces, nose rings or any other jewelry at a competitive performance. Please know that athletes wearing jewelry at a competition can put the team at risk of being disqualified.
Nails - MSHSL rules state that dancers cannot have nail polish, fake nails, or long fingernails at competitions. Untrimmed nails can cause someone to get scratched and bleed during a performance, causing the performance to potentially be stopped. We highly recommend dancers do not paint or get their nails done until the season ends. It would be a good idea to purchase nail clippers to bring to competitions.
Glitter - JUST DONT WEAR IT, MSHSL rules state dancers can not wear glitter of any type at competitions. If any type of face or hair glitter is identified on a team they can get disqualified.
Undergarments - All sports bras and underwear need to be nude not white, black, polka dot, tie dye, striped or any other color of the rainbow, with no designs or lace. Any visible underwear or bras can cause a team to be disqualified or have points docked.
Dance team is such a wonderful sport that creates bonds and friendships that most people will remember for the rest of their lives. How our athletes and family uphold our team's reputation is very important. With our team being new to the community we want our culture to be something
others want to be a part of.
Dancers are expected to represent the team in a positive manner at all times when out in public and on social media.
Please remember that even though dance is a team sport and not an individual sport everyone makes up an important part of our team. If anyone would make a decision that would risk the team's culture, your teammates will suffer the consequences as well.
Coaches encourage our dancers to eat healthy and refuel their bodies before and after practice.
Eating healthy means eating enough calories a day to fulfill your body's recovery needs, and getting those calories through healthy sources. Dance is a sport that uses every muscle in the body. It is important to fuel it with the proper nutrition. This includes, non sugary drinks before or during
practice/competitions, non greasy foods before practice/competitions, and protein after practice to repair the dancers muscles.
Dance is a sport that mainly requires tighter fitting uniforms, mirrors, and striving to reach perfection. Any of those three just stated may cause someone to be more aware of their body image than others, and can possibly put young women at risk for developing an eating disorder. If you as a parent, teammate, friend feel that someone on our team is struggling with eating and or body image please make a coach aware!
As much as we try to prevent injuries, they can still happen. Coaches take injuries very seriously, however we are not medical professionals, if you have an injury we ask that you visit your doctor. Please know that "sitting out" due to injury will only occur at the recommendation of a doctor, or at coaches discretion.
Medical / Health Conditions
Coaches need to be aware of ALL medical or health conditions, especially those that require additional needs. (medication, inhalers, epi pens, etc) This is to ensure the safety of each dancer in case we would ever have to address a medical emergency. If we do not know about a diagnosed
condition, we may not be able to address the emergency correctly if ever necessary.
If you have a medical, health, or mental health condition that could impair you from participating in specific activities, please communicate this with coaches. We want our team to be a fun and safe environment for everyone. Knowing about specific conditions can help us make appropriate plans for
team activities and choreography.
Over the counter medications
Coaches will not provide dancers with any over the counter medications. Parents, or athletes should
pack medications in their bag if they will need any.
Please follow or Instagram Page @lfdanceteam and our Facebook Page Little Falls Lindy's Dance Team
Social media is solely used for positive purposes towards our team. Please share anything from our pages with family and friends!
Technology and phone use
There is a time and place when phones are acceptable to use within the team.
Technology at practice - We expect dancers to come to practice early to have time to change, eat a healthy snack and be ready by 3:45. When arriving at practice early, dancers are expected to be stretching and working on choreography or skills. Sitting on your phone until practice starts
is not the best way to prepare for practice.
Technology on bus rides - Dancers are allowed to have their phones, Ipads, music on bus rides to competitions. Please know whatever you bring to a competition is your responsibility to keep track of when you are there. Items are always at risk of being stolen or lost.
Technology at Competitions - Phones will be asked to be turned off and collected by coaches before entering the competition. All ipads and music will also need to be turned off and put away before getting off the bus. This is to help dancers to stay mentally focused on the competition. Any
important updates of the competition schedule will be posted to the parent band if need be.
Pictures and Video - While pictures and video are such a big part of our lives these days and can capture great memories, there can also be conflict. Dance is a sport of constant changing in and out of clothes and uniforms, we do not want dancers taking pictures and or video with someone changing in the background. Athletes are allowed to have their phones once all performances are done.
Bullying of any type is not allowed on our team.
Bullying Vs Gossiping
While neither of these are tolerated on our team, there is a difference
between the two:
Gossiping - is a conversation that spreads true or false information about other people without said person knowing. We expect our athletes to know this is not an activity we engage in on our team.
“Be the solution, not the source”
Bullying - is seeking to harm, threaten, or intimidate someone intentionally to hurt feelings in a repeated action. We expect our athletes to know any behavior of this type is unacceptable on our team.
If any member of the team is feeling like they are being bullied and have tried to work out a solution, please tell one of the coaches. Coaches can not help find a solution if we are not aware of the situation. As much time we spend with our team, we do not know everything that goes on inside and
outside or practice. If someone feels they are being bullied they need to let a coach know, do not hesitate we are here to help you.
If the situation does not get resolved after the dancer has talked to the coach, a meeting with the school will be scheduled to help resolve the issue. While we do not expect everyone to be best friends on our team, we do expect everyone to work together as a team to achieve our goals.
Contacting Coaches
Athletes and parents may contact coaches through Email, or our band app. Coaches ask that when communicating, you include all coaches in your message (thank-you). It is easier for all of us to receive the same message at the same time, and likely to get a faster response.
Email - Please know email may take us longer to respond for we do not check our email as often as band.
Coach Taylor - tczech@lfalls.k12.mn.us
Coach Amy - amybwettstein@gmail.com
Coach Lyndsey - lyndseydimateo@gmail.com
Band App - Being a member of the Lindys Dance team means you have to be on our band app. The band app and information / sources on it are for members of the team only. Band can be accessed via phone or web browser on a computer.
Dancer band app - for athletes to have communication with coaches and teammates. Access to practice information and updates throughout the season that are the dancers responsibility to be accountable for. Videos of practice/ skills are regularly posted and expected to be reviewed by dancers. Since practice is closed to the public these videos must be shared only with dancers.
Parent band app - is for coaches to update parents on fast communication and for parents to be able to connect with each other if needed.
Athlete vs. Parent contact
Athletes are expected to be the main source of communication with the coaches (Just as you would communicate with your boss for work/job). If you are going to miss a practice / performance athletes must tell coaches, with the exception of emergencies.
Practices are closed to public
Our practices are closed to non-team members to help keep athletes focused for the 2 hours we have them. Athletes need to be responsible and comfortable communicating with coaches in any type of situation. We are trying to teach each athlete to be responsible young adults, in helping prepare them for their future on the team and the real world.
2pm Rule (Week days of practice only)
Athletes will need to contact coaches before 2pm on practice days, if they want their absences to be considered excused. Even if coaches do not see the message till after practice we can see what time the message was sent.