Your athlete must be in 1st thru 8th grade during the fall season of the current year. Your athlete will be assigned to a squad based on their grade level.

Panthers is a 100% volunteer run program and there are plenty of opportunities to get involved.  You can help at any of the following levels:

• Board Member
• Head Coach
• Assistant Coach
• Team Admin
• Spirit Wear Sales Committee
• Event Planning Committee

If you would like to volunteer, please Contact Us.

The Panthers play regular season games against teams affiliated with the Bill George Football League.  Some of the towns include Lombard, Carol Stream, Glendale Heights, Bartlett, Elk Grove, and West Chicago; for additional information and directions, please visit our BGYFL page.  In addition to cheering at home/away games during the season, squads may also travel up to 90 minutes for their competitions.

The season typically starts in late July. Squads will cheer at roughly 8 games with 4-5 of those games being Home games and the remainder being away. Competitions are offered early September-early November. All competitive cheer teams will participate in (3) of these. Panther cheerleaders will also support the football teams throughout the Flag Bowl and BGYFL playoffs in mid-November. Teams that advance to the State Cheerleading Competition will compete in early/mid-November. All dates are subject to change pending ICA competition schedules. State qualifying teams will incur an additional expense to cover state registration fees and additional indoor space.

All teams will practice on Mondays and Wednesdays between the hours of 5pm and 9pm for a minimum or (3) and a maximum of (4) hours per week. Exact practice times are TBD until registration closes.

Panthers is a non-profit organization.  Registration fees help cover league fees, administrative costs, park field usage costs including lights, insurance cost, indoor space usage on cheer mats or artificial turf fields.

Parents will be able to purchase their Uniforms thru Panthers which they will be able to keep to use for multiple seasons.

Parents will be responsible for providing the following items..

**The 3rd through 8th Grade squads also have the opportunity to qualify and attend the ICA State Competition in December. State qualifying teams will incur an additional expense to cover state registration fees and additional indoor practice space.**

1st through 8th Grade squads will compete in a minimum of three (3) ICA Regional Competitions.  All squads also have the opportunity to qualify and attend the ICA State Competition.  State qualifying teams will incur an additional expense to cover state registration fees and additional indoor practice space.

In order to keep registration costs down, cheerleaders will participate in one  fundraiser totaling $100 which is included in the registration fee.  The raffle tickets will be distributed during registration, and will need to be returned to your athletes coaches the first week of practice.

We love your athletes spirit and desire to cheer! Unfortunately, athletes committed to the Downers Grove Panthers cannot cheer for neighboring towns or Allstar organizations during the Panthers cheer season.

Uniforms: No refunds will be provided on uniforms for any reason after uniforms have been ordered.

Registration fee: Registration fees are eligible for a refund. Refunds requested in writing before May 29th are eligible for a full refund of the registration fee paid (less the cost of raffle tickets, uniforms, and net of any discounts), provided all equipment (if applicable) is returned within two weeks of the refund request.

Refunds requested in writing between May 30th and July 28th are eligible for a refund of up to 50% of the registration fee paid (less the cost of raffle tickets, uniforms, and net of any discounts), provided all equipment (if applicable) is returned within two weeks of the refund request. Only those athletes whose registrations had been paid in full at the time of the refund request are eligible for a 50% refund. Athletes whose registrations were not paid in full at the time of the refund request will receive a prorated refund.

No refunds will be provided after July 29th for any reason, including illness or injury.

There are no refunds for Panther pre-season camps for any reason (including injury or illness).

To request a refund, please send an email to our Treasurer at treasurer@pantherjrfootball.org