Being a full-time cheerleader is tough work that comes with unforgettable experiences. Although I am now a retired athlete since I started college, I will never disassociate myself with this incredible sport. No matter where life takes me, you will always hear me say, "Yes, I'm still a cheerleader," for I proclaim my love for this phenomenon whenever I can. The following is a list of 11 things that all cheerleaders can all relate to—and as much as we may hate half of these points, our passion will never fail for this amazing sport. It has changed our lives in ways we can't comprehend, but will be forever grateful for. Because after all, once a cheerleader, always a cheerleader!
1. You're always mistaken as a "rah-rah" cheerleader.
A controversial topic that we've all had to go through. From being asked the question, "Don't you just shout peppy ways to spell words at football games?" Or even better, something we've all been told, "Cheerleading isn't a sport; you don't do anything hard." No. You've got me all wrong. I'm a Rec cheerleader, an All-Star cheerleader, and a high school cheerleader that just so happens to sometimes cheer-on sports teams. But don't doubt my strength—I'm one bad ass chick that throws girls only 10 lbs. lighter than me into the air, catches them in a tight double-down cradle, then swiftly hustles to a five-Jump jump sequence that could make someone lose their breath before they even begin the routine! And that's only during the first 20 seconds!
2. Those dreadful Sunday practices.
Somedays, I still wake up on early Sunday mornings in a thick sweat, panicking about the excruciating practices that I would have to endure if I was still an active cheerleader. I think I can speak for us all when I say these practices were the death of us all! Whether Coach was generous and only kicked our asses for three hours, or if she made us stay the full six hours to clean up our "hot mess of a routine," those practices were never ones to undermine. You were lucky if you made it out alive; and you absolutely knew, come Monday morning, you'd need a wheelchair for school.
3. You get glitter on everything you own.
When competition season arises, it's almost as if someone sent you the "FU glitter bomb," and you just so happened to open it in your room, car, shower, locker, closet, etc. I wish I was kidding, too... As if Coach didn't ask enough by forcing us to put glitter on our eyelids up to our luscious brows, but if she's in a good mood, she'll even ask us to put glitter stars on our faces. Why even apply glitter to your eyelids for next week's competition? You know you'll still have enough stuck on from the week before.
4. Arriving to the competition looking like a circus act.
As we got older, many of us were lucky enough to curl our hair the day of competition; however, times were much different when we were younger. As if parents don't love embarrassing and torturing their children enough, cheer parents took it to a new extreme. Not only were we forced to sleep with our hair in an extra tight pony tail (while having gel and hair spray cover every inch of our head only to experience the feeling of our facial skin being pulled farther back than our ears), but our parents loved to torment us even more by buying those ridiculous curlers for us to wear! Most cheer curlers do not look like your regular curlers—they come in twisty, spikey and loopy shapes that making sleeping a true bitch. Not only was the struggle real when waking up the morning of a competition with a solid migraine, but it became even more evident when you walked in public with these ridiculous things on your head. (Especially when you were forced to go to school!)
5. Watching/hearing bones break.
We've all been through it—seeing and/or hearing this excruciating incident. Whether it's happened to you, or your teammate, it's an awful scene to experience. People don't give us enough credit—we break our bones in the middle of our routine during a competition and continue on, putting a fake smile on through the tears, until we finally collapse on the floor at the end of the music. This takes pride and guts! We love what we do so much that we'll sacrifice our own bodies before we let our team down. The worst thing about it all is not the fact that we've broken our body parts, it's that we have to sit on the sidelines for six to eight weeks without participating in what we love.
6. You make up routines in your spare time.
Whether you're at work, in school, finishing up a project, or driving your car, everything seems to inspire you for new, innovative cheer ideas! You're constantly YouTubing new stunts to impress Coach with, or thinking of how to incorporate twerking into the routine. After you stabilize your brilliant idea, you obviously have to call your teammates to go over the new concepts. This then leads to half the team coming over your house to perform these crazy stunts; and if someone happens to break a bone, well it was for a good cause, Coach.
7. Totally fan-girling over World's!
Whether you participate in World's or are watching from the sidelines, this event is what we cheerleaders live for! We look up to those who compete for the title, because whether we like certain teams or not, their performances are absolutely flawless to watch. World's gives us great ideas for next year's routines, and aspires us to be as good as those who compete! When this well-known season arises, you'll most likely get your closest friends together to score the routines with you—as if you're the judges—but who are you kidding, they're all 10's in your eyes anyway!
8. The indescribable feeling of stepping onto the floor and executing your entire routine.
After months of practicing till you bled, finally learning the right dance moves, and perfecting your tumbling pass, the moment has come to compete on that infamous blue mat. Although not every practice may have gone so smoothly, you try to stay confident because you have faith in your team. But when the time comes to step onto the floor, all nerves aside, you're ready to shine. Then the absolute best feeling in the world sinks in about half-way through the routine: Knowing that you have the crowd's attention and you just slayed your performance better than Beyoncé could have. We can all agree that when the entire routine hits, you feel like a true star.
9. Having a set wardrobe.
You never struggle to pick an outfit because cheer apparel seems acceptable to wear any time, any where! Whether you're going to school, the gym, practices, or just chilling on a Saturday, you have a set outfit for each occasion. Besides having over 100 competition and team t-shirts, your closet is packed with yoga pants, sweatpants, sweatshirts, jackets, socks, bloomers, and of course, those notorious Soffee shorts. All of these items seem pretty adequate for any event during all seasons of the year. (The only time you panicked was when you were told that you need to look nice for once—what are you supposed to wear?! If cheer clothes aren't acceptable, then you aren't going!)
10. Becoming a family with your team.
Sunday practices, although dreadful, were where we developed a relationship with one another. After helping the girl with the gushing bloody nose, or dragging the weakest link off the floor after completing a run-through of the full routine, these were the conditions we bonded in. We saw each other in our darkest states—we may have even tried fighting each other one or two times—but at the end of the day, we knew we loved one another. We were all there for one purpose: To fulfill our passion for the sport we love; and it just so happened that we became a family during that process.
11. Loving every single second of these shenanigans.
Although being a cheerleader calls for some very bizarre events (see points one through seven), I'll never deny that I love it! Cheerleading is a great way to build character, strength, and sass! It teaches us how cooperate with others to get shit done. And even though we go through some rough lengths by cheering (accidentally grabbing someone's crotch to save them from falling, or being the one who's crotch was grabbed), everything that happens brings us closer as a team (because you know, only family members would crotch-grab to save a life). At the end of the day, cheerleading is the best sport life has given me. I have friends that will last forever, memories that I'll never forget, expressive faces for every type of dance, and a scorpion that I can still pull (well, if I stretched a little first). A cheerleader is undoubtedly one of the best athletes you could strive to be!
