Today, June 14, 2009, I am officially announcing the retirement of my cheerleading career. For those who know, know that for over a decade, cheerleading has been a huge part of my life. I started dancing when I was 4 years old and joining cheerleading in elementary school, just felt necessary.
I have strained my voice, had girls dropped on me, broken a few limbs, endured a few black eyes and cheered my heart out for some of the most deserving teams in Southern California. Cheerleading has made me the peppy, high energy leveled woman that I am today. From this high-endurance sport, I have sharpened my communication skills and had a positive outlook on life as well.
I cheered for my jr. high, high school and college... and I can truly say, that through this sport I have created some of the best memories of my life. Hands down.
Many people do not see the side of cheer that a cheerleader does, the practices are grueling, focusing on conditioning, but instead of weights, we use people as our strength builders. Whether you are on the ground or in the air, you are responsible for your teammates life. It sounds really dramatic, but it's not, at any given time a girl could be dropped the wrong way and end in disaster. I have seen a lot throughout my 10 years of experience. This sport should not be taken lightly.
Being put in such a position of responsibility has helped me to become a woman of integrity and maturity. I have grown so much, because of my responsibilities that cheer has endowed to me. And I am so thankful to my coaches and teammates along the way.
Without the girls that I have cheered with over the years, I don't think that I could ever survive this sport. It is truly a sisterhood, nonetheless a sport. Because you are with each other for days at a time, it creates this camaraderie like no other. I can say in confidence that I will never forget any girl that I have ever served on a squad with. Each girl has contributed to my life.
For my senior year of high school, I had choreographed the homecoming dance routine to be preformed on the football field of Saddleback Community College. The bleachers were filled with hundreds of people. People who have seen me cheer a million times before. (I went to the same school from 6th grade-12th grade) But for some reason this time was different. I was on homecoming court that year and I was the only cheerleader on homecoming court who chose to change out of my gown and into my cheer uniform for the halftime show. There was no way that I was about to leave my girls hanging for our biggest performance of the year. I was so rushed for time, and almost panicking that I would not be able to change back into my gown for the parade. And I was nervous that the crowd wouldn't like the dance, but as son as that music came on, our varsity cheer team was on and I have never seen our fans cheer louder for us when we hit our ending stunt. It was one of the best routines that I have ever done and I will just never forget the feeling of accomplishment that came with it.
Another moment that I will never forget is going to the NCA National Cheerleading Collegiate Championship in Daytona Beach, Florida this April. It was an experience that every cheerleader dreams of. I had never worked harder to be on a squad in my life until I started cheerleading for my University. We were pushed to the limit and our hard work had paid off as we accepted our bid to Nationals. When we competed on the National floor for the first time, it was unlike and feeling ever, just the lights and the sea of judges and cheerleaders. Wow! You will never see anything like it. Just the experience of being there and getting second place in challenger's cup and hearing our coach, say "we left out hearts on that floor," all of those things made a year of hard work and high stress pay off.
I have had the text book cheer career, it does not get better than the 10 years of memories that I have to forever hold on to. So today, announcing my official retirement, is no easy task. But it is one that has been in the making for quite some time now. I realized that as my last year of college cheerleading was coming to a wrap, that I needed to focus on my career and let go of my favorite pastime. After all, it's not like I am going to become a professional cheerleader. I am a writer, I have just become the managing editor for my publication and I am focusing on a big dream that has just started to take off. I need to focus on that for now.
It's been fun, it's been peppy, it's been pink and frilly with a lot of ribbons and hairspray and pom poms. I am excited for the next chapter in my life and I owe so much of my motivation to this sport that has taught me so much.
I have strained my voice, had girls dropped on me, broken a few limbs, endured a few black eyes and cheered my heart out for some of the most deserving teams in Southern California. Cheerleading has made me the peppy, high energy leveled woman that I am today. From this high-endurance sport, I have sharpened my communication skills and had a positive outlook on life as well.
I cheered for my jr. high, high school and college... and I can truly say, that through this sport I have created some of the best memories of my life. Hands down.
Many people do not see the side of cheer that a cheerleader does, the practices are grueling, focusing on conditioning, but instead of weights, we use people as our strength builders. Whether you are on the ground or in the air, you are responsible for your teammates life. It sounds really dramatic, but it's not, at any given time a girl could be dropped the wrong way and end in disaster. I have seen a lot throughout my 10 years of experience. This sport should not be taken lightly.
Being put in such a position of responsibility has helped me to become a woman of integrity and maturity. I have grown so much, because of my responsibilities that cheer has endowed to me. And I am so thankful to my coaches and teammates along the way.
Without the girls that I have cheered with over the years, I don't think that I could ever survive this sport. It is truly a sisterhood, nonetheless a sport. Because you are with each other for days at a time, it creates this camaraderie like no other. I can say in confidence that I will never forget any girl that I have ever served on a squad with. Each girl has contributed to my life.
For my senior year of high school, I had choreographed the homecoming dance routine to be preformed on the football field of Saddleback Community College. The bleachers were filled with hundreds of people. People who have seen me cheer a million times before. (I went to the same school from 6th grade-12th grade) But for some reason this time was different. I was on homecoming court that year and I was the only cheerleader on homecoming court who chose to change out of my gown and into my cheer uniform for the halftime show. There was no way that I was about to leave my girls hanging for our biggest performance of the year. I was so rushed for time, and almost panicking that I would not be able to change back into my gown for the parade. And I was nervous that the crowd wouldn't like the dance, but as son as that music came on, our varsity cheer team was on and I have never seen our fans cheer louder for us when we hit our ending stunt. It was one of the best routines that I have ever done and I will just never forget the feeling of accomplishment that came with it.
Another moment that I will never forget is going to the NCA National Cheerleading Collegiate Championship in Daytona Beach, Florida this April. It was an experience that every cheerleader dreams of. I had never worked harder to be on a squad in my life until I started cheerleading for my University. We were pushed to the limit and our hard work had paid off as we accepted our bid to Nationals. When we competed on the National floor for the first time, it was unlike and feeling ever, just the lights and the sea of judges and cheerleaders. Wow! You will never see anything like it. Just the experience of being there and getting second place in challenger's cup and hearing our coach, say "we left out hearts on that floor," all of those things made a year of hard work and high stress pay off.
I have had the text book cheer career, it does not get better than the 10 years of memories that I have to forever hold on to. So today, announcing my official retirement, is no easy task. But it is one that has been in the making for quite some time now. I realized that as my last year of college cheerleading was coming to a wrap, that I needed to focus on my career and let go of my favorite pastime. After all, it's not like I am going to become a professional cheerleader. I am a writer, I have just become the managing editor for my publication and I am focusing on a big dream that has just started to take off. I need to focus on that for now.
It's been fun, it's been peppy, it's been pink and frilly with a lot of ribbons and hairspray and pom poms. I am excited for the next chapter in my life and I owe so much of my motivation to this sport that has taught me so much.
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