Competition day is the headline, but a cheer competition weekend is often 2–3 days of travel, waiting, competing, celebrating, and recovering. Families who plan the non-competition parts of the weekend tend to have a much better experience — and athletes who recover and connect with their team outside of the gym perform better too. Here is how to make the whole weekend worth the trip.
Arriving the Day Before: Make It Count
If you are traveling the night before the competition, avoid the trap of arriving at the hotel and immediately ordering pizza in the room. Use the evening intentionally.
Suggestions for the night before: — Scout the venue. Drive by the convention center or arena. Locate the parking entrance you will use tomorrow, the nearest entrance, and where check-in is likely to be. Doing this once means you are not lost tomorrow morning when every minute counts. — Eat a real dinner. Competition morning often starts very early and athletes rarely have a proper breakfast window. A quality dinner (protein, carbs, plenty of water) sets up your athlete better than anything else you can do the night before. — Let the team bond. Team dinners, even informal ones at a casual restaurant near the hotel, build cohesion. Teams that spend time together off the competition floor tend to perform with more trust on it. — Get to bed early. An obvious point that is routinely ignored. For athletes competing before noon, a 6am wake-up is common. Getting to bed by 10pm is not early — it is responsible.
Food Near Major Competition Venues
Competition venues — convention centers and arenas — are almost universally located in areas with good food options nearby. Knowing where to eat in advance saves time and money.
Atlanta (Cheersport Nationals at Georgia World Congress Center): The Castleberry Hill and downtown areas have dozens of casual restaurant options within walking distance. The CNN Center food court inside the adjacent complex offers quick options. The Omni and Marriott Marquis hotel restaurants work for sit-down dinners.
Dallas (UCA/NCA Nationals, Spirit Celebration at Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center): The convention center is in the heart of downtown Dallas. Victory Park, the West End, and Uptown are all within 10 minutes. Klyde Warren Park area has food trucks on weekends.
Ocean City, Maryland (ACDA Reach the Beach events): The OC boardwalk is the obvious answer — dozens of casual spots for seafood, pizza, and burgers. Slightly inland on Coastal Highway you find less crowded, less expensive options that locals prefer.
Atlantic City (Spirit Cheer Grand Nationals at Atlantic City Convention Center): The casino resort restaurants dominate, but many casino hotels have food courts with reasonable options. The Atlantic City boardwalk has diners and casual spots; the Boardwalk corridor between the Revel/Ocean Casino area and the convention center has improved significantly in recent years.
Orlando (ESPN Wide World of Sports, Summit, Worlds): Disney resort restaurants are convenient but pricey. International Drive has hundreds of options at every price point. The Disney Springs area is worth a dinner visit if you have time. For quick meals, grab pre-packaged food from a nearby Publix rather than relying entirely on Disney dining.
Athlete Recovery Between Days
Multi-day competitions — or back-to-back competition weekends — take a real physical toll on cheerleaders. Stunting, tumbling, and jumping are high-impact activities, and they get harder when athletes are fatigued.
Prioritize sleep. It is the single best recovery tool. One late night between competition days can visibly affect an athlete's performance and mood the next morning.
Encourage active recovery in the evening. Light stretching, a warm bath or shower, and elevation of sore legs and feet for 15–20 minutes before bed can meaningfully reduce next-day soreness. Avoid sitting still for long stretches immediately after competing — walking around even briefly helps.
Hydration and nutrition matter beyond competition day. Many athletes do fine on water and snacks on the day of a competition but neglect proper nutrition the evening before and after. Protein (chicken, eggs, Greek yogurt) and carbohydrates (rice, pasta, sweet potato) in the evening meal support muscle recovery better than pizza every night.
Address minor injuries early. Rolled ankles, jammed fingers, and sore shoulders are common. Ice immediately after the competition day, and if something still hurts the next morning, tell the coaches before warm-up. Competing on a quietly worsening injury is how minor problems become major ones.
Team Bonding During the Weekend
The best team bonding happens naturally when coaches and athletes spend unstructured time together outside the gym environment. A competition weekend provides natural opportunities that a regular practice week does not.
Team dinner the night before competition is the easiest. A restaurant with a private room or a large group table lets the team connect, laugh, and settle nerves together. Coaches often use this time to deliver a team message or set the tone for the next day.
Photo traditions. Many teams have a ritual spot at each competition venue — a backdrop, a sign, a trophy case — where they take a team photo. These images become part of the team's identity and something athletes remember years later.
Post-competition team activity. Win or lose, doing something together after competing releases the tension of the day. Depending on the location, options might include: a team swim at the hotel pool, frozen yogurt or ice cream run, a casual walkthrough of a nearby area, bowling or mini-golf if the schedule allows.
Room parent coordination. At smaller gyms, the trip parent coordinator (if there is one) organizes snacks and drinks in a central hotel room for teams and families to gather between events. This informal hub becomes the team's home base for the weekend.
Managing Downtime for the Whole Family
If you have siblings or other family members attending, a competition weekend can mean long stretches of waiting at a loud venue. Planning in advance prevents everyone from going stir-crazy.
Split the day. If one parent is managing the athlete, the other can take siblings out for breakfast or a walk before the team performs. Coordinating so everyone is at the venue for the performance — and only the performance — is a reasonable approach for younger siblings who cannot sit still for 8 hours.
Bring entertainment for kids. A tablet with downloaded shows, a small backpack with activity books, and headphones are essential if you are bringing younger children to a loud, crowded arena all day.
Use the hotel as a home base. If the hotel has a pool or a game room, plan a few hours there for kids who are done with the arena. You do not all have to stay in the venue the entire day.
Explore the city if time allows. Competition weekends at destination cities (Atlanta, Orlando, Nashville, Daytona Beach) are opportunities to see places many families would not otherwise visit. Even 2–3 hours exploring a neighborhood, visiting a local attraction, or eating somewhere authentic makes the trip more than just a competition.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I find food near the competition venue quickly?
Before leaving home, Google Maps the venue and search "restaurants near [venue name]" filtering by your desired meal type and distance. Make a short list of 2–3 options at different price points and save them offline or in your notes. Making food decisions on the day when you are tired, time-pressed, and standing in a parking lot is stressful — doing it in advance is not.
What if my athlete is too exhausted to bond with the team after the competition?
That is normal, and coaches generally understand. Encourage a brief connection (even a team huddle after awards) and then rest. Recovery matters more than extended socializing when an athlete is genuinely depleted. The bonding opportunity will be there on the next competition weekend.
Should we sightsee at competition destination cities?
If you can work it in without compromising rest or preparation, absolutely. One intentional activity — a neighborhood walk, a museum, a specific restaurant — can make the weekend memorable beyond the results. Just avoid doing too much; an athlete who is overtired from sightseeing will not perform at their best.
What are good hotel pool rules for a team stay?
Ask your gym's coaches if there are guidelines. At many gyms, coaches prefer athletes avoid extended pool time the evening before competition (cold or overheated muscles are harder to manage the next day). After competing, a hotel pool is generally fine and a great way to decompress. Always supervise young athletes near water.
How do we handle it if the team gets a bad result and morale is low?
Acknowledge it. Let athletes and families feel the disappointment rather than minimizing it with hollow positivity. Then shift focus: eat a good meal together, find something small to laugh about, and give the team space to process before launching into "next time" talk. Coaches who have been through many competitive seasons know that some of the strongest teams come from learning how to handle a bad day.
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