Because my parents taught me the importance of being active and involved in sports, from a young age I was constantly dancing around and only dreamt of one day becoming a cheerleader. I remember watching cheerleading videos and admiring those girls. I forced my friends at recess to attempt stunts and cartwheels with me. I remember constantly begging my mom to put me in a cheerleading class, and finally she did. After that first class, I was hooked.
Cheerleading was the only thing that I wanted to do. Every day, I would practice everything that I learned and I will never forget the day my family got a trampoline for me to practice my tumbling on. In the sixth grade my parents decided to put me in competitive cheerleading and that’s when my life truly changed forever. I felt important and apart of a team of girls that had the same passion that I had. We worked hard every practice, because we all wanted to improve and become great cheerleaders. I learned so much from cheerleading that shaped me into the person that I am today, and here are some things that all cheerleaders should be thankful for.
The Friendships
The friendships you gain from cheerleading are unlike any friendships out there. They share your passion and will motivate you to work harder to improve. They are the people that make you fall in love with cheer, and will support you on the hard days. Traveling to different competitions is one hundred times more fun with your best friends there along with you. Cheering for your high school’s football team on Friday nights a memory you’ll never forget. You know that if it wasn’t for your friends and teammates, you wouldn’t have the passion for cheerleading that you do.
Learning to Be a Team Player
It didn’t matter how good you were. You needed to be a team player. Stunting involved 4-5 people and if everyone didn’t do their part then the stunt would fall and in a competition that could be the difference between winning and losing. In order to nail your routine in competition, it needed to be practiced hundreds of times. THIS IS EXHAUSTING. There are days you wanted to skip practice and have a social life, but you knew it will be worth it walking away with a trophy. If someone from your stunt group wasn’t at practice, your whole group couldn’t practice stunts that day. Everyone needed to be there in order to get better. Cheerleading isn’t just a commitment to yourself; it’s a commitment to your teammates.
The Beauty of Adrenaline
There is no better rush of adrenaline than right before you step on the mat for your routine. You can hear the crowd cheering as you and your teammates are ready to perform what you have been practicing for months. There is no better feeling than when the music ends and you know your team nailed the routine. It’s a special bond between you and your teammates and regardless of the outcome, you guys were all on the mat together doing what you love to do.
Learning the Value of Hard Work
Nothing in cheerleading comes easy. It takes a lot of practice to master a new skill. There were many times when I just wanted to give up because I was tired of landing my standing back tucks on my knees until finally I started landing on my feet. It’s an amazing feeling to know that you worked hard and trained your body. Cheerleading keeps your body in amazing shape and in order to be able to do cheer skills, your body needs to be strong. Practices can be brutal when you are tired and the last thing you want to hear your coach say is “one more full set.” You didn’t give up though; you sucked it up, put a smile on your face, and went back to your beginning position of the routine and you are stronger for that.
How to Handle Losing
Losing is never fun. It also has the ability to bring down your confidence in yourself and your teammates. I learned the hard way after losing a big competition at Nationals. It sucked and you are devastated after all of the hard work your team put in. I learned to remember that I loved cheerleading regardless of the win or the lose. We were still a team and it gave us motivation to work even harder for the next competition. You are never going to win everything in your life, so I am thankful for this hard lesson that now makes me work harder.
Understanding It’s Okay to Give Up Cheerleading
This was probably the hardest thing for me. Unfortunately for me, my cheerleading days ended due to an ACL surgery and I had to sit out my senior year. It was hard to watch my team go on without me, but I was still their number one supporter. Giving up cheerleading was one of the hardest decisions but I’ve learned that you can still love it just as much. I’m always going to have a special place in my heart for cheerleading and look forward to the days when I get to go watch a competition or sit down and watch old videos. I will forever be grateful for the passion that I found in cheerleading and the work ethic that it taught me. Although the days are over, they will always be my best days.