The Truth about Cheerleading

Last week I watched the movie Eddie the Eagle and it reminded me that I don’t bring to light something that was the catalyst for everything; for believing in myself, for following my heart and creating a drive inside me that anything is possible.

When I was in the 4th grade I ran into my first experience with bullying. I was short and two of the guys in my class made that very well-known to me. They would pick on me for being small and although my logical brain thought, obviously I’m smaller than you two, it got to me.

I would cry when I got home from school and what you focus on expands: I would go to soccer practice and then realize that yes, in fact, just about every other player was a mile taller than me. I felt inadequate or that something was wrong and it was totally out of my control.

I let that go the best I could and continued on with soccer, but I felt my heart grow further and further away from it. One day my parents got home from a convention where they had learned all about various camps, sports and actives offered for kids in the area; they told me they had met two cheerleading coaches.

I had only seen cheerleading in the movies but it sparked something in me; I had to go to try outs.

During the second day of tryouts, the coaches asked us to line up in a horizontal line from shortest to tallest. “Here we go again,” I thought. Obviously went to the front of the line.

That’s when I realized that being the smallest meant something extraordinary here (in my mind at least): you were a flyer.

Little did my parents know that they had accidentally stumbled upon the single-handed greatest situation for me to be in as someone who was feeling down about her height.

From the very first day of practice, I was in love; obsessed. I couldn’t think about or talk about anything other than cheerleading. This obsession made me dedicated, driven and want to push all limits to see how great of a cheerleader I was capable of being.

Cheerleading is something that I don’t talk about. I mean really talk about. When I’m at a party or in passing and someone says, “Oh you were a cheerleader?!” I smile and nod because I know that what they’re thinking is totally different to what it actually was to me.

How do you explain to someone in passing that…

This was the first experience you ever had with going for something that was completely in your heart?

How do you explain to someone that this was your first experience with taking risks and learning to trust people to catch you, knowing that sometimes you would fall?

How do you tell someone about something that drove you to be so committed, so passionate and tested your physical and mental abilities more than you even knew was possible yet?

How do you tell someone that it was the single thing that awoke a drive in you and is the reason you won’t settle for anything less, even years later?

How do you explain to someone that cheerleading is the reason:

I can’t just sit still at a 9 to 5 that I don’t like.

I can’t continue going on dates with a guy if it doesn’t feel right.

I can’t quiet that pull inside me that says: I have to push my limits; I have to see what’s on the other side.

I believe that anything is possible if you have a crystal-clear vision and drive in your heart. 

Cheerleading was the catalyst for sparking the drive inside me that wanted to achieve the unimaginable.

Letting it go

Ever since I was a freshman in high school, I had dreams of going to college and being on one of the best college teams in the country. I did everything in my power, with the support of my family, to be great enough to make that a reality.

Between going into my junior year of high school, and flying across the country for practice, something changed. I no longer felt that drive; that pure, fiery pull inside me to continue to become greater and greater. I felt that it was complete; I was done. The pull was gone.

I had gotten to where I wanted to be and I couldn’t fake that drive that had been there for the last six years. Over night I was ready to let it go, and so I did.

The Event I recently put on sparked something.

As I got in the elevator to go up to it, I started crying; I felt like I was walking into cheerleading. Something that had been such a pull in me was coming to fruition.

I never wanted to not have that pull; to continue to have that drive, that passion, that aliveness of going towards something. I honestly didn’t know if I would ever have it again, but putting on the Event showed me that cheerleading wasn’t the drive, it was a catalyst for awakening it within me.

I think it’s why I love helping people through coaching as much as I do. I believe everyone has a drive and fire inside of them that can be awakened and I want to help them experience that.

I remember the look on my cheerleading coach’s face the first time I ever did a stunt right after hours and hours of trying; things never felt the same again.

Throwback to Freshman Year of High School:

What has sparked your soul? What’s been a catalyst for pushing you in the right direction? Maybe you haven’t found that yet and that’s ok, you will. If you need extra support in bringing it out, we can work on it together.