Earlier this year I was hired to be a varsity coach at a local high school. I was so nervous when I first accepted the job. I had never been a coach before and I didn't really know what I was doing. All I had was my experience with my past coaches. Thank God for that because they were seriously amazing. I didn't know that when I accepted the position it would be one of the best decisions of my life.

Bonus: my best friend is my assistant coach.

Now don't get me wrong, coaching a group of teenage girls is not always a walk in the parking. Shocking, I know. But, when they come together as a team and accomplish something they've been working hard at it makes all the stress worth it.

We have a really young team for being varsity. It consists of two freshmen, six sophomores, and one junior. Some of them had no experience when they came to try out for the team. I knew we had a long road ahead of us. The girls had three different coaches in the past three years. They were noticeably sick of all of the change and inconsistency. I could tell as soon as I met them they that had a ton of untapped potential.

They just hadn't had a coach that really wanted to build the program up, until now. It took a while to build trust with them though. They didn't know me or where I came from. Some practices over the summer were just downright frustrating because the girls were reluctant to some of the change. I couldn't blame them but wanted them to be able to see the changes were for the best.

Now they trust my decisions, and my assistant coach's, and give me their all at every practice. We take A LOT of pictures and videos so they can see their progress and watch how far they've come. We make sure to tell them often how proud of them we are. It's crazy to think that any of their past coaches could have come in and not seen the potential these young women have.

I am constantly amazed at how hard they work in practice, and they show it out on the field. The first game day is always nerve-wracking, but it's also so exciting! Watching them in practice is great, but seeing them out on the field made us so incredibly proud. They've turned into such a hardworking, dedicated team. They have learned the value of teamwork and practice.

Being a new coach is a challenge unlike any other I have experienced in my life, and I substitute teach. But I wouldn't trade the team I have now for the world. So watch out for Swan Valley Cheerleading, because they're on the rise with big things to come.