It is a team sport

In most sports, if someone isn’t giving it their all someone else will pick up their slack. Not in Cheerleading. If one person doesn’t do their part in a routine, the entire performance will fall apart. So many times stunts have fallen because the people under them don’t have the mind set “I’m going to make this hit”. If everyone doesn’t have that mind set, then your team will never progress no matter what level you are.

There are a lot of stereotypes

Nothing is more offensive to me than when I tell people my major is Physics and they respond with “Really? I thought because you were a cheerleader you would choose something easier.” We are athletes just like everyone else. We have to keep a certain GPA to stay on the team, just like football. We are not the dumb popular girls that just want attention. Occasionally you see those girls at tryouts but once they see a glimpse into what is really behind all of the makeup and smiles, they realize they can’t handle the intense practices and the bruises from all of the stunting.

It is more than a sport

It is our life. We eat sleep and breath cheerleading. Our room is covered in team photographs and competition bows. Our Facebook timeline is filled with insane stunts that we dream about hitting one day. During Worlds Week our family knows better than try to use the TV, it’s already booked. Cheer group messages consist of planning routines, sending pictures of bows, t-shirts and stunts to work on at practice. There isn’t a day that goes by when we don’t run through the routine in our head just to make sure we get it perfect when we step on the competition mat.

Your teammates are your family

Endless hours of running full outs, conditioning and of course eating together leads your team to be extremely close. Everyday at practice, you put your life in your teammates hands. That creates a trust that is almost impossible to break. Even when we are mad at a team member that trust is still there, it has to be. I have met my best friends from cheering side by side with them. These are the girls that I come running to whenever I need advice or need a good laugh on a bad day. Of course you won’t always get along with them but at the end of the day they are always there for you no matter what.