Cheerleading has been a huge part of my life since I was 10 years old and I wouldn't have it any other way. It has consumed the majority of my time from practice to competitions. Most people outside of the cheerleading world don't understand what it is all about, but every cheerleader has a special shared understanding about why we do what we do. Any cheerleader that has cheered for any amount of time knows how true these are.
1. We can’t just skip practice or competitions
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We’ve all been there, a friend asks to hang out and we tell them we can’t because we have practice. It happens so often our friends outside of cheerleading get so tired of hearing that they tell us to just skip practice. We can’t just skip practice because theres not just someone to fill in for us. If we skip practice a whole stunt group can’t go up all practice long. Not only can we not miss practice but we most definitely can't miss a competition. Feeling sick? Sorry, you still have to compete. I have seen many people do a whole routine and then run off the stage sick. Even worse coaches holding trash bags on the side of the stage incase that person gets sick during the routine. The show must go on no matter what.
2. We have our own lingo
Libs, scorpions, arabesques, extension, preps, toe touch, pike, hurdler, full, scale and the list could go on. Not mention touchdowns aren’t a good thing in cheerleading like they are in football. We have our own lingo and meaning of words.
3. Glitter, glitter, and more glitter
It takes WEEKS to get all the glitter off of your body from a cheer competition. You find it everywhere on your body, clothes, in your bathroom and on your pillow. Sometimes you can’t figure out how it even gets certain places. By the time you get it all off of you it’s time for another competition and the process starts all over.
4. We stunt and tumble everywhere we go
Going to the beach? Have to take a tumbling a picture. Going to the pool? Yup, we have to stunt. It’s in our blood and we do it everywhere we go.
5. We get asked if we can do a backflip all the time
When someone finds out we’re a cheerleader usually one of the first questions we get asked is if we can do a backflip. Yes, we can. No, that doesn’t mean we’re going to do one for you. OK, actually we probably will because it’s fun to see peoples reaction.
6. Not every cheerleader is a sideline cheerleader
It seems every time I tell someone I’m a cheerleader they assume all I do is cheer for other sports. I love cheering for other sports but that’s not all I do. There's a big difference between High School cheerleading, all-star cheerleading and College cheerleading. High school cheerleaders are mainly sideline cheerleaders but many of them compete as well. All-star cheerleading is just competing in competitions. College cheerleading incorporates both with sideline and competing. All types of cheerleading is amazing in it's own way. We, as cheerleaders, work hard to not only support the sports we cheer for, but for our competitions as well.
7. Cheerleading is harder than it looks
Stunting, tumbling, jumping, throwing baskets, doing a pyramid and dancing WITH a smile on your face, all in 2 minutes and 30 seconds, is hard. Not only do we have to execute the skills but we have to look good while doing them. Cheerleaders make cheerleading look easy but I promise it’s not. It takes a lot of hard work and dedication
8. People always ask you if you are going to cheer for an NFL team
If I could dance like them, then probably. They are actually dancers and not cheerleaders though. It’s not the same thing even though they are called cheerleaders. I still have a tremendous amount of respect for them and wish I could do what they do.
9. Your team becomes your family
We see each other at our best and our worst. We fight, we cry and we laugh together. We see each other frustrated trying to gain new skills and we celebrate each other when we finally get that skill. We probably spend more time with our teammates than we do our own family. We’re more than just a team, we’re a family.
10. Cheer hair and make-up should be consider works of art.
It used to take me at least an hour maybe and hour and a half to do my hair, and probably another hour to do my make-up for competitions. It takes a lot of time and patience to get everything just right. It’s not an easy task. Our moms our so excited as soon as we’re old enough to do it by ourselves so they don’t have to do it anymore. It’s not easy to have a ten year old squirming while your trying to perfect competition ready winged eyeliner on her (sorry, mom.) Getting the hair and make-up done is one thing, taking it down and off is a different story.
11. You will always be a cheerleader at heart
No matter how long it has been since you’ve stopped cheering, you will forever be a cheerleader. Cheerleaders never truly give up cheering. It is always within them. Even when we are 30 years old we will still be trying to show off at least a standing back.
Cheerleaders have their own little world that only they understand. There are so many more things than just these that only cheerleaders understand. No matter how much our sport (yes I said sport but thats a debate for another time) may frustrate us sometimes, at the end of the day we love it. Cheerleading will always have our hearts.
