During my 6th grade year, I decided to quit soccer after playing it since I was 5. I fell out of love with the sport and was just tired from playing. Fast forward to the end of 7th grade, I realized that I wanted to try out cheerleading. I had seen the Etiwanda Cheer team posts on FaceBook and decided that I wanted to try it out. In order for me to have the best shot at making the team, I needed to start practicing and getting more experience. So me and my two friends decided to do Pop Warner cheer for the city of Fontana. Through that experience, I was able to learn the basics of cheerleading and discovered my passion for the sport. As my first season of cheer came to an end, Covid hit and schools were shut down. I wasn’t sure if me trying out for the team was even possible due to Covid. However, they conducted cheerleading tryouts online. We were given a dance routine and a cheer to learn through video. We had a few days to submit a video of our audition. I worked for hours perfecting the dance and cheer. My Mom and my Dad helped me film the video as my Dad was the videographer and my mom did not hold back on telling me if I looked bad or not. It took hours for me to get the “right” video. They published a list of the girls who made the team about a week later. To my surprise, me and my other two friends made the team. When I saw my name on the list, the feeling of relief and happiness washed over me. I started to imagine myself cheering and being in the uniform. I was so excited to go to school and be a part of the team but as time went on, and Covid cases were at an all time high, I realized that my freshman year wouldn't be a normal year. At first, we weren't allowed to do much, we had “practice” over zoom which was just us learning cheers. But restrictions were lifting and we started to have practice in real life, which was enough for me. I was happy with just that. Eventually we started cheering at football and soccer games but with no uniforms, just tracksuits. Even with no uniforms and cheering for soccer which is uncommon, I was still ecstatic that I was a part of the team, even when I did not have the normal experience. My excitement for being on the team never went away as sophomore year rolled around and I finally got to have the normal cheer experience. I started making more friends and having my life revolve around school and cheer. All I did was do school or cheer related activities, but I wasn't complaining. Junior year was the same, same excitement, same love for the sport however, I was on varsity now. Everything I worked for was to be on the Varsity team. It was starting to pay off, all the time and money I have devoted to this team was for that moment of seeing my name on the varsity team list. My time on the varsity team as a junior holds some of my favorite memories. Our sports were doing good and the friendships I have created through this team were flourishing. As sad as I was that my junior year was ending, I was so excited to become a senior. It did not really hit me that this would be my last year cheering until mid season of football. In the back of my mind, I would think about how these are my last games but I did not put too much thought into it. However, when it was our last game of the season, it really hit me. I did not think that I would cry or be too sad about it ending because I would see girls from the previous years crying at their last game but I would always think about how I wouldn’t cry. I was standing on my box and when I realized we were going to lose, tears started rolling down my face. I could not stop crying as I kept on thinking about this being my last time cheering. All the time I devoted to the team, all the money, all the sacrifices I made for this team was just over. To others, it was just another day. To me, this was the end of an era. Some may not understand this feeling, or may not understand why this is important as it was just another day. And from an outside perspective, it seems silly and absurd to willingly put so much effort and time into something like cheer which is not considered a sport to some, but it is all I have known. I would do it all over again if I could. Every year of highschool was different when it came to how the cheer team worked, but the thing that stayed constant was my love for cheer. Now that time has passed, I am grateful to have had the opportunity to be on the team and happy I was able to make the most out of it. Cheer has shaped me into the person I am today, has allowed me to make many friendships that have lasted years, and create memories I will look back on for the rest of my life.
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