Cheerleading Lessons

Junior year of high school I had reached my limits and had become clinically depressed. I had no interest in school, and I had considered quitting my schools cheerleading team. I felt alone and underwhelmed with where I had imagined my life was going to go. My dream was to become a state champion with cheerleading and to place in the top 10 at the National High School Cheerleading Championship, I had already made amends with the idea that it was an unreachable goal. I had completly given up. Ready to quit, one of my teammates had taken notice in my dismissive persona, she had also brought it to the attention of the rest of my team. They began to push me harder then they he'd ever pushed before. They helped me realize that I was great again.

It’s one day until cheer tryouts. For some reason I was thinking about it during the middle of math class, but I’m not real sure as to why. “Trista, what’s the answer to number…….” I didn’t notice the teacher was talking to me so I didn’t hear what number it was. I’m never listening anyways. “Sorry sir, what number was that again?” I said. “Number three, Trista.” My neighbor answered me, so I fumbled with my papers to find the right page. After about a decade, I finally found it, but the teacher had already moved on to the next student. I can’t believe I was so zoned out. I’m kind of used to it by now. Lunch was the same thing. I was completely zoned out and still thinking of cheer. That’s all I could think about and nothing else. All throughout

Cheerleading is a sport that many people don’t support in a way that they support the popular sports in most schools, like football and basketball. Cheering can open many doors and create an ample amount of job opportunities. By cheering you can also receive full ride athletic scholarships from many schools. A cute skirt and pompoms is not the only thing you have to work for when it comes to cheering. Just as any other sport you have to have a certain grade point average to try out for your cheerleading team and also you are held accountable for maintaining your grade point average with also being held accountable for remembering cheers, games day dates and events that you will have to attend with your team. Cheer teaches you many things other than being able to tumble and shout! As a cheerleader, you learn to encourage anyone that needs that boost of encouragement, we learn how to work together with other people. Your cheer team members will become your family!

The sport of cheerleading has been around for a long time; since 1884 in fact! In the beginning, cheer was a sport dominated by college men. Since, women have taken over, and in 1967 the first ranked college cheer competition was held. Both school and competitive cheerleading offer many rewarding opportunities. Though they are a part of the same sport, the two types of squads are actually quite diverse. School cheer is undeniably a worthwhile and respectable sport, but competitive teams often provide a more challenging approach, and are more suited to experienced cheerleaders.

Tensions were high. Her nerves were frazzled. The crowd was quiet, waiting to hear the name of the team who was to move on to nationals. Only two teams in the division would be moving on. The crowd went wild as the announcer said, “And moving on to the 2009 Cheerleading Nationals will be the Kankakee Valley Kougars!”

My dedication, commitment, and enthusiasm for cheerleading set me apart from the other applicants, along with my diversity with different types of cheerleading. I have 15 years of cheer experience at the all-star, junior high, high school, and at the collegiate level. I feel like this makes me a very well rounded leader because I have cheered with many different personalities and worked with coaches at each of these levels. As an all-star cheerleader, my coach selected me to perform an individual routine, I was a captain of my junior high cheer team, and was able to work closely with my high school cheer coach to help run practice after an jury my junior year. I hope that if I were to be selected to represent Hendrix College Cheerleading’s

A cheerleader is a person who is a member of a group who shout out special songs or chants to encourage sports teams. (“Cheerleading”. World of SportsScience. Ed.K Lee Lerner and Brenda Wilmoth Lerner. Vol 1. Detroit: Gale,2007.139-141 Gale Virtual Reference Library. 9 Nov. 2016). Cheerleading began in the late 1800s at the University of Princeton, in New Jersey. (“History of Cheerleading.” iSport Online.Cheerleading.iSport 9 Nov. 2016 cheerleading.isport.com/cheerleading-guides/history-of-cheerleading). Cheerleading was in fact created by men at this time. The men who started cheering were called “yell leaders.” Women did not start cheering until 1923, and since then women have dominated cheerleading. Cheerleading started to evolve

Ask questions!! You want them to know you and see you working hard. DONOT be afraid to ask for help.

My biggest life lesson has come from the sport that I love, Competitive Cheerleading. I started cheering when I was three years old. Like every athlete I started from the beginner level and made my way up. The skills came faster and easier to me then they did to other athletes. By the time I was in second grade I traveled every weekend to competitions, I did team and individual performance competitions, and I was a National Champion.

Some states have accepted competitive cheerleading as a varsity sport, but some cheerleaders still have to fight for recognition as an athlete because their school refuses to recognize cheerleading as a sport. Other athletes that do not participate in competitive cheerleading do not see why it should be considered a sport, because “it is not as demanding as other sports” (Competitive Cheerleading Fights). The definition of an athlete is “a person who is trained or skilled in exercises, sports, or games requiring physical strength, agility, or stamina” (Omni Cheer Blog). Competitive cheerleaders meet all the requirements to be considered athletes, so why do they have to continue fighting for recognition as athletes?

I’ve always known that I was meant to become a teacher. In the fifth grade yearbook, each child claimed what they wanted to be, although most of these will change with time. Every little girl guessed that they would be a professional dancer, a princess, and other mystical job titles. The space beneath my smiling face read “kindergarten teacher”.

I have been a cheerleader at Topsail High School for the past three years of my high school career. My team trains for our competitions and games for ten months out of the year. It has been time consuming, but very rewarding to be apart of the Topsail Cheerleading Program.

Some states have accepted competitive cheerleading as a varsity sport, but cheerleaders still have to fight for recognition as an athlete because their school refuses to recognize cheerleading as a sport. Not to mention other athletes that do not participate in competitive cheerleading do not see why it should be considered a sport, because “it is not as demanding as other sports” (Competitive Cheerleading Fights). The definition of an athlete is “a person who is trained or skilled in exercises, sports, or games requiring physical strength, agility, or stamina” (Omni Cheer Blog). As a matter of fact competitive cheerleaders meet all the requirements to be considered athletes, so why do they have to continue fighting for recognition as athletes?

I come from a small town in Wisconsin population 556, which means that there never is a big controversy of ideas or beliefs. For some reason though, my senior year of high school was the year that a big controversy happened, over the Clayton Cheerleading Squad. I’m the captain of the Clayton Football Cheerleading Squad, which brings on a lot of responsibility but my last year of cheerleading started out different then normal. This year our football team lost approximately seven players due to a disliked coach. That didn’t affect the cheerleading squad at all; in fact we were having an amazing season. The new girls were catching onto the cheers really quickly and our mounts were going up safely and efficiently. But before we knew it everything

As the athletic director for a college that has decided to sponsor a competitive cheerleading program, the first step to ensure the safest possible environment for these student athletes would be to make certain that we have all of the various types of insurance the school might need to cover an athlete or a coach. Next, I would confirm that the coach was qualified and had certifications from either, the American Association of Cheerleading Coaches and Administrators, the National Council for Spirit Safety and Education, or the United States All-Star Federation. I would also administer background checks on all coaches and support staff. I would also ensure that the coaches are attending every practice where tumbling and stunting is done. Making