Its that week in April ... every cheerleader has been waiting for this week/weekend to come around the entire season. Its World Championships. Three days of non-stop, around the clock cheerleading. These three days can be the best and worst days of your life. You pretty much forget to eat because you're so stressed out that you're favorite team is competing this weekend. Every cheerleader at one point or another has found themselves in tears because of the way awards work out ...
1. Cheering in your sleep ... Large All Girl Senior Level 5 and Large Coed Senior Level 5 are the hardest divisions to watch on Sunday night. There is always a problem with the live feed, or USASF just enjoys keeping the entire cheer world up until 1 a.m. on Sunday. You sit there and wonder this exact thing ... Props to the athletes throwing double fulls at 1 a.m.
2. The anxiety that your favorite team is going on first. Every team that competes first in their division sets a standard. They also have the hardest time with scoring because this is the first team the judges have seen. You get so nervous that you find yourself yelling at the judges to remind them to score fairly.
3. When a team no one has heard of makes it to finals. You're just sitting there like ... and then you see their routine and you're just like ...
4. How you look at other teams fans when they're beating your team .03 after day one. Because no one really wants to deal with those fans who don't realize that day one scores are gone after finals schedule announcements.
5. When the live feed stops working. There is nothing more frustrating then hearing the music to the routine but all you can see is the World 2016 logo.
6. When you keep refreshing twitter to see the score sheets from @cheerupdates. You don't think you're doing it that often until you find yourself tapping the phone screen like Darla from Finding Nemo ...
7. When the other teams in the division are preforming. It is physically impossible for you to take your eyes off of the routine. You just sit there like this for two minutes and 30 seconds.
8. When your favorite team is up next. This is the exact representation of how we feel when the team you want to win is taking the mat.
9. Praying to the cheer gods. You suddenly find yourself sitting on the floor in front of the screen begging the cheer gods to keep your team safe. 10. When you're waiting for placements to be announced. You don't know what to do with yourself, so you have to slap yourself to make sure you still have feeling in your body.
11. How you feel when the opening stunt is happening ... Also how you feel when "your teams" stunt hits vs when it doesn't.
12. When they play good music in-between team performances. You suddenly find yourself dancing to the music.
13. When "your team" hits zero at worlds. It's the first time all year that they've hit zero too.
14. You suddenly realize you've been watching cheerleading for 12 hours straight. Can't stop, won't stop.
16. When your team wins. You celebrate like you were right there on the floor with them.
17. When worlds is over ... When Monday ends and you really don't know what to do with yourself for the next 363 days.