High School Cheer Team

Imagine bright lights, screaming fans, and a huge ESPN camera in one arena with a huge trophy at stake. No, it’s not a football championship. It’s the UCA College Nationals. This is where all a team’s hard work pays off as they step on the mat to perform their routine of two minutes and thirty seconds. Tumbling, stunting, and performing, teams try their very best to impress the judges and receive as much points as possible, hoping to be placed number one in their division.

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

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.

My first cheerleading tryout had been so much more nerve wracking than I would ever think. Around 4 years ago, my friend told me how her cheer team were having tryouts and I should join. Right away I said yes, but I wasn't exactly serious about being a cheerleader. With tryouts just around the corner my friend, Jo, helped teach me some of the basics. I straight away thought i was pro and ready for

Again, tryouts came for the next greuling school year. The only difference from last year, I was prepared. I knew the cheers, I knew the feeling of standing in front of crowd so ecstatic from a winning game and I knew the feeling of a crowd sitting at a loss for words in the face of defeat. I knew my goal and I was absolutely determined to reach it. I could only be described as a lioness on the prowl and the Varsity squad was my prey. Just as anxious as the year before, though this time with a hint of confidence, I made my tryout a culmination of completely everything I had learned from my wildly experienced past. That night, I reached my ultimate goal and earned the prized name of Varsity cheerleader. The next day I practically walked around with an enormous V on my forehead, honored by the position. With all this positivity, I knew there was something to come. That same summer, I hadn’t received a lucky chance to become even a contender in the

On January 21st, 2016, as I was preparing for my senior year cheer tryouts, I experienced a horrible injury. As I was doing a tumbling pass I dislocated and broke three bones in my right leg. I fractured my tibia, fibula, and talus. I was immediately rushed to the hospital and had emergency surgery. I had two plates inserted with 10 titanium screws. I was immobilized for the next 10 weeks. Because of the surgery I missed the next week of school and had to catch up very quickly. Although this injury slowed me down, I still made the varsity cheer team and maintained a 3.5 gpa. Even though I was able to make the cheer team and maintain above a 3.5 gpa, looking back I received two of the only B’s of my highschool career. I believe that if I had

Summer going into my junior and senior year, I volunteered to help the Pop Warner Pewee cheer team. The cheer team had one paid coach and a couple of volunteers. The coach was my coach my sophomore year of high school, so she had asked me to help the team out, so I did. They had practice two to three times a week for two hours and I went to most all of them. I helped the team tremendously because I have had a lot of cheerleading experience and unlike the coach, I am young, and I am able to demonstrate certain things to the girls that the coach can’t. The whole cheer team and the coach benefited from me volunteering my time and skills. They benefited by having someone who’s is experienced in stunting. My friend and I showed them different techniques and skills to do to benefit the stunting.

In order to be successful in cheerleading you have to have a strong body and mindset, because cheerleading takes physical and mental strength. Cheerleading is a yearlong sport so if an athlete survives for that long then that means the athlete is dedicated to his/her team. When the athletes finish the entire season they are acknowledged at a banquet. At the banquet the team talks about things in the past and they look back at everything that happened earlier in the season. The seniors of the team and everyone who is on that team for the last year get really emotional. Cheerleading is a tough sport to do but the experiences that they gain with their teammates make the it not so

In the 1960’s not only did almost every high schools have cheer squads but most colleges had squads too. NFL teams began making cheer teams in 1960’s too.The first NFL cheer team was in Texas and known as The Dallas Cowboys. It was quite vicious to make that NFL cheer team! . “There was a mother in Texas who tried to hire a hitman to kill a rival cheerleader, so her daughter could be on the squad.” In 1965 was when the first pom- poms were actually made. They were called Pom- pons not pom-Poms as they are here in 2017. Cheerleaders were pretty successful in the 1960’s. In the 1970’s and 80’s cheerleaders started getting more competitive and they added stunts and competitive

Words can't even describe the adventure this schools varsity cheerleading program brings you through. There are easy and hard practices. There are obstacles to overcome. There are hardships and happiness. There are victories and loses. All of these aspects bring you through an experience that isn't quite like any other. One adventure.

We spoke on Friday regarding the issue that surrounds the Dexter Cheerleading Squad in which they are not being allowed to go participate in the state cheer competition. The reason that they are not being allowed to participate seems vague in my opinion as I explained to you during our Friday conversation. The superintendent of our school district claimed during a parent meeting on 1/25/18 in which at least 5 parents made appearance, that since the job posting for coaches stipulated that it was a sideline cheer only, the cheer squad would not be allowed to go. When the question was asked, if any school regulations or policies existed that specified and backed up her decision, she claimed that none existed. Hence, that her athletic

One of the three settings where cheerleaders are in their natural state is tryouts. I decided to interview two of my school’s “Comet Ladies,” Summer and Mariah. We talked about the mood of the room, how tryouts are set up, and how supportive the girls are of each other. As you can imagine, with a room full of girls who know they have a chance of not making the cut, the atmosphere is very intense. Most of the girls can do almost everything on the list of requirements, but just knowing they are watching and critiquing them makes them really nervous every time (Yancer,

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?