People today have a stereotypical view of cheerleading. All thanks to television, cheerleading is looked upon more as an excuse to wear a short skirt than an actual sport. Cheerleading is "easy." It's "pointless," but these remarks couldn't be any more wrong. Growing up I thought cheerleading was meant only for the prim and proper. I thought that you had to have some major bucks, but once I actually picked up a pair of pompoms, I realized just how difficult cheerleading could be.

When it came to cheerleading in high school, I was strictly against it. Being on my school's dance team meant automatically having this hate for cheerleaders. Cheer and dance went against each other like no other, competing for the best recognition in the school. I thought just what everyone else thought: "Why does cheer even exist?" Then came my junior year, and I was looking for a change. A change in uniform, a change in coach, and especially a change in better teammates. So as some would say, I switched over to the dark side, but making the cheer team was my new goal whether people liked it or not.

The beginning of my journey towards making the team involved participating in gymnastics the summer before tryouts. Let me tell you, gymnastics was DIFFICULT! I came home everyday sore from head to toe. Flipping and jumping looked a lot easier when I saw it at the pep rallies. Every bone in my body was screaming at me to stop, but I just couldn't. Cheer was much more than just twirling around in a mini skirt, it was hardcore.

Once tryouts came around, I was so anxious that I wouldn't make the team. For once in my life, I was nervous about trying out for something. Dance came natural to me, I picked up routines easily, but cheer was something so new and different from what I have always done. Cheer tryouts consisted of tons of other girls that I didn't know. Everything was so foreign to me.

At first, we started with jumps and tumbling: This was probably the easiest part of it all. Then we focused on chant, a cheer, and dance. Chanting wasn't so bad, but the cheer and dance were more difficult than I had presumed. Dancing in cheer was much different than dancing on a drill team. It was a lot faster with much more choreography. I had definitely underestimated cheerleading, but when everything was said and done, all my hard work paid off when I made the team. Of course I had my share of people who disagreed with my decision of joining cheer, but even today I have never regretted my choice to join cheerleading.

The moral of the story is that nobody should underestimate cheer. Having bruises the size of a softball is not fun. Having somebody fall on you over and over again during a stunt is not easy. Flipping in the air, hoping that your hands hit the ground in time before you do is not something everyone can do. So why do people feel obligated enough to comment on cheering when they have never cheered a day in their life? Cheerleading, in my opinion, is a sport and I will argue that any day, anywhere. Although I spent a good portion of my life mocking the art of cheer, I now know that its not for everyone but it was for sure meant for me. Cheer is one of best decisions I have ever made and I am forever grateful for its experiences and its friendships.

Sincerely,

A former hater of cheer.