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.
Raul fought to put me on an amazing team and we had a successful start of the season. We were only a week away from our biggest competition of the season when he was removed from his coaching position. He didn’t get a goodbye or a see you later.
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Some of them the week of competitions. I believe that having people quit because they don’t think we are good enough is something that has shaped me as a person. When people don’t have faith in our team, it makes me want to push harder to reach my goals. Cheer has turned me into a very determined person when it comes to getting what I want in life. If there is a goal I’m attempting to reach, I won’t stop until I know I have tried every possible thing to get there. If people try to push me down and they don’t believe I will make it, then I try even harder. The best way to show off my hard work and dedication is through …show more content…
He told me that if I switch gyms I would never be successful there, the coaches wouldn’t like me, and I would be eaten alive at my new gym. I used this as an opportunity to prove that he was wrong and that I could do anything I set my mind to, so I did. I switched to another gym and I worked as hard as I could to make the team I wanted to be on. It took up a lot of my time and took my focus away from many other things, but I still trust that it was worth it. I loved my old gym, but it didn’t compare to the new gym I called
A mistake, there must have been a mistake it's not real it can't be happening. I raised my head to look at one of my best friends shock on his face second only to mine. Coach apologized to those who hadn’t made the team and offered, if anyone wanted to know why they had been cut they could come speak to him and the assistant coach privately. What did I have to lose? So I went. It would have taken a real man to be able to look a coach in the face immediately after his dreams had been crushed, I am not embarrassed to admit that there were tears in my eyes as i conversed with the two of them. The news of being cut stung, but the reasons that followed pierced my soul; being told that with my skill level i should consider playing a different sport. Life stood still, i told them i would come back the next year and improve and prove myself to them; they had no idea that i had no intention on keeping this promise. Baseball was over, as i tried to gather up the last reserves of my pride i looked across the gym to my friends and lifted my hand in farewell but couldn't stop the tears from streaming down my cheeks. As I walked through the front door of my home i collapsed right in the doorway and finally felt safe enough to truly let my emotions show; I cried for a long time and only paused for a moment when my mother arrived home and looked at me expressing her sorrow through the way she looked at me. If I
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.
When most people think of cheerleading, they think of the spirit squads that attempt to pump up the local crowd at high school basketball and football games. People are not aware of what these athletes are doing when they are not in front of these crowds. Strangers to cheerleaders who do not follow the sport extensively do not know the exact involvement of the athletes in this sport, at all ages. Cheerleading requires athleticism like all other sports as you must be in shape and at a great fitness level to be involved in most circumstances. Cheerleaders have to know what they’re doing at all times; while knowing what everyone else on the team is doing as well, which involves a high level of mental preparation. Cheerleading, high school or
When I was 9 years old, I started this thing called competitive or all-star cheerleading. My goal at the time was to make it on a level 5 team and compete at the World Championship. Within my first 5 seasons I had a lot of trouble with my tumbling, which prevented me from moving past level 4. Before my sixth season I switched cheer gyms. My parents believed in my goals so much that they drove me an hour and half to and from practice two to three times a week. Within my first year at Tribe which was my new gym, my tumbling issues never got resolved. That left me on a level 3 team where I never believed I was good enough. The next year I was again put on a level 3 team. Now in my eighth season I was put on a level 3 team yet again. I wanted to quit, but my coach showed me that tumbling did not define me and allowed me to fall in love with the sport all over again.
You have been training all summer. You have been in the weight room almost every day and wake up so sore you can barely walk. You give encouraging words to your teammates and pump them up right before a game. You are tough and fearless when you take the field. You strive to do your best and want to win. How would you feel if every time you took that field your peers didn’t believe in you and did not respect your sport? Cheerleaders go to the gym and work just as hard as other athletes do, and are not receiving any credit. This makes us frustrated and let down. There are many aspects of cheer that people are unaware of. Being a cheerleader, you have to be able to tumble, stunt, be competitive, have teamwork, and most of all dedication. Cheerleading is a sport because it is physically demanding, requires teamwork, and is very competitive.
But I went out and I tried out for the team. Try outs for high school baseball was so different from middle school baseball. Before tryouts started we had days were we would work out before baseball tryouts started. Some days we were in the weight room and other days we were on the field. We tryout days were here barley any body got cut from the team and if you didn’t make it he would posted anything up and make people feel embraced he would just come up to you and tell you that you did not make the team. It was the first time in a long time that I had played baseball and it was the first time that I made the baseball team for a school. I played for the JV team and my position were catcher and outfield I was number 15 and I liked playing for the team it was so
Along with working hard to make the team I wanted to be on most, once I was on the team, I learned that I can’t always control everything. Being knocked down through the seasons, I have less desire to continue playing. “Tough love” would be an understatement on how some of the coaches have treated fellow athletes and I. Never earning a “nice work” or “good job” begins to get frustrating and you get harder on yourself as an athlete. These challenges have grown me as a person and taught me that I shouldn’t give up, no matter how hard it
Throughout my life, I have always been told that motivation is what gets you going, but your heart is what keeps you going. It has only been three years since I have discovered my passion for cheerleading; however, it has formed me into the young adult I am today. Due to the numerous hours of hard work, willpower and persistence over these years, I have acquired the concept that my mind, body and soul can withstand almost anything. The idea that cheerleading is not a sport, tends to be an extremely moot topic in today’s society. To me, however, it doesn’t matter what other people think, if it’s something you love and enjoy then that all that counts. I appreciate all of the challenges that cheerleading presents to me. I have gained an extreme
When I was a child, I believed that my most important goal for my young life was to one day become a varsity cheerleader for my local high school. Nine years later, the day I became a varsity cheerleader, I made a promise to myself that I would never do anything to jeopardize my personal image or the image of my team because I knew that young cheerleaders were always looking to be just like the varsity cheerleaders, and also like myself. This aspiration of mine encouraged my volunteer involvement with the the local recreation department in my county that coordinates youth cheerleaders during each fall football season.
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
The gym where I practice to win, the YMCA, is a place where I know who I am. It is a place I can go to escape my problems for awhile and release some stress. It is not the actual physical building, but rather the events that have occurred over the years. It is where I have formed some of the closest friendships. It is the place I have invested years of hard work for many of my accomplishments. To some it may seem odd that a place associated with sweat and physical pain can mean so much to one person. However, in my eyes it is almost like a second home.
Why don’t people believe cheer should be a sport? Is it because it’s mainly a all women sport? Heck what even is a sport? If people don’t consider cheer a sport, then why is football or basketball a “sport” and not a “activity”. Even though people don’t want cheer to be a sport because of the outfit or so-called dancing, they need to reconsider the fact that cheerleaders are just as active, work just as hard and get hurt like any other sport.
One of my main goals in life is to win Worlds. Worlds is a competition in which cheer teams from around the globe compete to become the best in the world. In 2009, after suffering defeat in my first Worlds, I dedicated all my free time to returning, winning, and bringing home the championship ring. Last year, after years of hard work, our team placed fifth in the world at this competition. Even though we grew as a team that day, the title of first in Worlds became more of a priority in my life. Fighting for this goal at Champion Cheer brings a sense of happiness and contentment to me.
We made changes to the routine, trying to maximize the difficulty of our high flying stunts and choreography. Things like injury or frustration for not getting a certain skill often set us back, but our determination always brought us back stronger. Everyone team member plays a big role in cheer. A stunt can only go up if every single person is present, doing every intricate move in sync. Our bodies were constantly sore and exhausted. But the thought of getting to compete at the highest level was enough for us to push
“We don’t throw balls, we throw people. And we catch them.” ( Thomas, “Born on sideline, cheering clamor’s to be a sport”). In varied sports, you generally find them using some type of ball or item. In cheerleading they don’t use a ball, they use humans.