Most cheer gym owners think “safeguarding” only means preventing the worst-case scenarios. But real athlete welfare runs deeper than policies and paperwork. In this episode of the Cheer Biz Podcast, Dan Cotton interviews Joey (Joanna) Gamper Cuthbert, former cheer athlete, coach, gym owner, and the author of Squad Safe: A Practical Guide to Athlete Welfare and Culture Change in Cheerleading. They unpack why cheer gyms need clearer standards, stronger systems, and a culture that protects athletes and coaches alike. You’ll hear why culture isn’t what your website says—it’s what happens behind the curtain, why “we’re family” messaging can backfire, and how intentional values, boundaries, and expectations help red flags stand out before something becomes a crisis. They also discuss practical realities like coach-athlete communication, consent and spotting, and why cheer needs more evidence-based, sport-science thinking to keep athletes safer and performing at their best.

Judging a cheer competition is harder than most coaches realize, and that matters for your scores. In this episode of the Cheer Biz Podcast, Dan Cotton shares what he learned after judging at a competition in Fargo, North Dakota, and how cheer gym owners and cheer coaches can design, clean, and train routines to score higher. We break down why “readability” affects execution, how stacking sections too tightly can cost you tenths, and why giving judges a breather can help your team get the credit you actually earned. Dan also explains what judges are really trying to track in real time, plus the execution drivers that get hit the fastest: uniform flexibility, locked legs, base movement, transitions, and synchronization. If your athletes don’t understand the score sheet, they’ll make “safe” choices that can quietly drop you out of range and wreck your score.

Tryouts might be in May, but if you wait until April to plan… you’re already behind. In this episode of the Cheer Biz Podcast, Dan Cotton walks cheer gym owners through the 8 things you MUST do now to set up your best tryout season for the 2026–2027 year. We cover how to evaluate what worked (and what didn’t) this season, how to build a tryout packet that sells your program without overwhelming parents, and how to plan your budget, tuition, and assessments so your cheer program is actually profitable. Dan also breaks down what to market internally vs externally, how to use organic posts as “market research” before you spend on ads, why your website needs a high-converting tryout page with an opt-in (stop giving your packet away for free), and how email + SMS automation can turn leads into registrations without you living on your phone. If you want more athletes at tryouts, smoother registration, and a repeatable system that fills teams year after year, this episode is your playbook.