Cheer Stole Me

As if I had unconsciously alienated myself from the squad. But no matter what I did I couldn’t shake the quasi -mental abuse that I had endured from cheer phi earlier on. No one likes to feel like the black sheep. But being a rebel was embedded in my DNA since birth. After all the separation, stress, and burdens of my financial obligations. I had contemplated quitting the team. I figured that if I didn’t want to be a part of cheer phi and if I couldn’t afford being on the team then why bother. One of the cheer phi members overheard me discussing my plan to the coach .I immediately got defensive and was silent the whole practice thinking that they were happy that I was leaving.

Cheerleading is more than cheering on the sidelines at a football game or bringing the crowd to their feet. Cheerleaders do not have to run around three bases or skate their way to a puck, but they do, however, lift their teammates, jump, dance, tumble, and perform. There was a point in my life where I would eat, sleep, and breathe cheerleading. It is debated whether cheerleading would be considered a sport. Nevertheless, cheerleading has been a passion of mine for most of my childhood, and these experiences made me the person I am today. Before cheerleading, I was incredibly shy, be bullied in school, and did not have many friends.

Those girls were a division higher than my team; so, as I watched their arms gracefully swing from side to side; their legs kicking into the air in a beautiful battement; and, the nearly flawless transitions, I wondered how much hard work and how many rehearsal hours they put in to achieve those movements with such ease. The spotlight highlighting their every move had me in awe. The song slowly started to fade out and the loud, obnoxious thumping in my chest resurfaced. With shaky legs and uneven breathing I hesitantly made my way onto the stage and got into position. Looking into the crowd, I could see hundreds of faces staring back at me; some familiar, some I had never seen in my life. This gave me a feeling of nostalgia taking me back to that first day of dance class when all eyes were on me. I could not hear anything around me except my heartbeat in my chest. I remembered how aesthetically pleasing the dancers prior presented themselves on stage and told myself to get it together. I had to give it my all and not let my team down, but most importantly I could not let myself down. I looked at my friend, who posed just to the left of me, for reassurance and she gave me such a genuine smile. I could see it in her eyes that she believed in me. I looked at my surrounding and thought “This is what I’ve been working towards. This is where I want to be.” All the negative thoughts that previously invaded my mind faded. My breathing began to even out as the lights dim signaling that the song would start any

A couple of months later competition season came and I was so nervous to go out there and perform in front of a lot of people. After the first

When I stepped onto the blue mat in this new gym, I knew this was where I wanted to be. After years of dreaming of going to this gym, reality finally kicked in and I was ready to start my journey. I had cheered for five years in McKinney, Texas and I started out loving it. That gym made me realize cheer was my sport. The reason I loved it so much was because of my coach, Raul. He was like a brother to me and pushed me to do my best and try new things even when I was worn out and felt like giving up.

At the end of an 8th-grade year, the office called any girls wanting to try out for high school cheer. HIGH SCHOOL CHEER!! The next step of cheer, cheering at the football games, basketball games. I was excited to try out for high school cheerleading. Even cheering with upper classmen! The paper that was given to us had a bunch of words on it, it gave us choices like: “Just Football”, “Just Basketball”, “Football and Basketball”, and another one that said, “Competition, Football, and Basketball”. I thought to myself, “What was the competition cheer like?” No idea, but on the cheerleading Facebook page, there were new coaches. This was going to be their third year as a UHS high school cheer coach. They were also really pretty, and on the

Cheer Tryouts The next seven minutes could determine what my 7th grade year will look like. 11 other girls, competing for seven spots on the JAJH Cheer Team. My hands were shaking, and I was so nervous inside. What if I don’t make it? What if I make myself look like a complete fool? Falling on my face, tripping, doing the wrong cheer, all of these factors were racing through my mind. But I had to plaster that smile on my face, black shorts, white shirt, bow, tennis shoes, I was ready. Routines rushing through my head, one after the other, over and over. Five, six, seven, eight, one… Three days of practicing and learning the material for those next seven minutes.

In that absolutely endearing, prideful moment, I took a chance to look back on my past years, devoted to such a tireless sport. I began the wide sport of cheerleading when I was a mere

Lanie SalmonThere are many school activities that students enjoy however a lot of students, boys and girls pick cheer. Cheer has been around for a while now, and a lot of students try out every year. Students enjoy cheer because of the competitions, the games, and meeting new people.At competitions students can compete against one team or they can compete against ten teams. In competitions students perform whatever cheers or dances the team prepared. Usually before the competitions the coach or coaches will give the team a speech to help calm the nerves. One of the down factors about competitions is when the team loses then everyone on the team will start blaming the people who messed up for the loss of the team. One of the good factors

Cheerleading has also taught me never to give up. When I first joined rocket cheer in we were placing 10th at competitions. 10 years later down the road of hard work and determination we are placing top 3 every competition. So many people have wanted to give up but I've learned if you just give up on a goal or a dream then it will never be reached. So what if you have to work a little bit harder? The outcome is only better. I was proud to be a part of Rocket cheer when we were getting the tenth place and I'm proud to be a part of it when we get first. The journey only made me

Vanessa Rodriguez Eng. 110/MW 2:20 Research Paper, Essay 3 Professor Ouwehand Competitive Cheer leading 10 November 2014 Vanessa Rodriguez Research Paper Eng. 110/MW 2:20 Professor Ouwehand 15 October 2014 Essay 3 Competitive Cheer leading When people hear the word “cheer leading” they tend to think of a group of pretty girls frolicking around being peppy in short skirts and pom-poms while being optimistically spontaneous and enthusiastic without having to put in any effort toward a physical and mental state that challenges one’s ability. It never comes to mind, to question whether the fact competitive cheer leading is a sport. Being peppy is the common stereotypical outlook that has been put on cheer leaders. It can be seen as

Due to my failure to make All State, I recognized that I did not need the recognition, the big performance and the medal that is given out. What truly mattered was the improvement that I achieved as a musician. In those short summer months, I had polished my scales and sharpened my sight reading skills. I was ready for my next audition which propelled me to the second highest band in my high school band program, the Symphonic Band. Competition for this band is usually very high and I was quite proud to have achieved such an

I am perfectly content at my cheer gym, Champion Cheer. When I am there, I can focus on my goal of winning Worlds, feel supported by my teammates, and earn my own money to relieve the stress of my parents. One of my main goals in life is to win

I was competing for a spot with girls I had never even seen before, and even worse: I had no idea what they were capable of. Tryouts gave me the same rush of adrenaline I felt during my first performance. As much as I loved the feeling, I was terrified of it all at once. Once I made my first impression on the judges, it was time for the waiting game. It took a solid three weeks until I got my letter in the mail that held my future cheer sealed inside. To my delight once more, the contents of the letter were more than exciting. “Congratulations! You are invited to cheer on Saint Francis Junior Varsity Cheerleading!” stated the letter in big bold block letters. The season flew by faster than the speed of light, and before I knew it I was feeling the adrenaline rush again inside the sticky, hot gym. I put my spot on the squad in jeopardy by going for the varsity squad as a junior, which was something very risky because the seniors always got selected above a junior. Taking this risk was something I would have never done, as I used to always play it safe. An upperclassman I had confided in when I met her during my basketball season watched my tryout from outside the window looking into the gym, and she said I had killed it, and the letter I received that April reflected that. I was one of two juniors cheering on the football squad of all seniors.

Title Ten years ago, if someone had told me that I would be a cheerleader at the collegiate level, I would most likely have laughed in their face. Now as I sit here getting ready for practice, I laugh thinking of how I entered the world of cheerleading. Going into my