No, this is not your average cheerleading article. Everyone has their own beliefs on whether cheerleading is a sport or not. Yes, I could sit here for hours and argue why it is a sport and get mad over it. But what is even better than participating in the sport is actually coaching the sport. I have been a cheerleader since the age of five and, growing up, I could never imagine not cheering. It eventually becomes a way of life and it is the only thing you know. Eat, school, cheer, sleep, and repeat had basically been my entire life. But what do you do after cheer ends? When high school is over, many people do not go on to cheer for college, or they do and sometimes it just doesn’t work out. But now what? It's something you can’t just give up on. And so now I coach.
The feeling you get walking into the gym for the first time and being introduced to your first ever cheer team is an indescribable feeling. You want to get to know all the girls and boys and want to get right to work. But it is a long learning process and it does not happen overnight. You get the opportunity to learn how to choreograph routines, learn each child’s skill set, put together routine on paper, and watch a whole group of children grow over an 8-month period; A lot can happen in 8 months.
You are given the opportunity to teach this group of children everything that you know about cheerleading and more. How to stunt, tumble, jump, and be loud. All the essentials of an amazing cheerleader. Now not every child catches on quickly so as a coach you must have a lot of patience but also be able to push the child to their limit and see what they are capable of. Sometimes you have children who naturally catch on quick and can tumble like they have been tumbling their whole lives, then you have the children you need all your time and effort to make them the best that they can be. There is no greater feeling than teaching children the things that you were taught as a child, and now able to pass the knowledge on to them.
You get the extreme satisfaction of knowing that although you no longer cheer you can watch other young cheerleaders grow in a sport that they love. You teach them stability, team bonding, trust, time management, healthy eating, coordination, leadership, and most importantly confidence.
I only have one person to thank for all of this and that is my high school cheerleading coach. Everything I know about cheerleading is thanks to her and I could not be more grateful. She has taught me how to become an amazing athlete and has also given me the opportunity to coach a team. I now could not imagine my life without coaching the sport that I love the absolute most.
