Through high school, I met plenty of people who went to sleep away camp or worked for a camp and heard numerous stories. Even my friends who played sports or were in the band had plenty of stories from camp. But some of my favorite stories are from my own camp experiences, a camp like no other: cheer camp. I am still a cheerleader in college now, but high school cheer camp tops all camp experiences.
1. Meeting other teams
Whenever you meet one person who loves something as much as you, you get excited. Now imagine meeting a whole camp of hundreds of people who love the same thing as much as you do. This passion for cheer instantly bonds each member of every team there. And unlike some sports' camps, you often have time to meet up with other teams and talk. Spending almost a week in bunks close together often leads you to meeting other people on the walk back throughout the day.
2. The best staff in the business
There are various groups of staff to cover the entire United States. They travel in large groups to do largers camps, or a couple staff members will travel to an individual school for a camp. No matter where they are, they bring the best attitude and skills to the table. At my camp, since their were numerous schools, each team was assigned a staff buddy who would help you learn new skills and create a short dance to perform on the last day. However, all staffers are extremely friendly and knowledgable and always willing to help you out.
3. Team bonding
Between the 2 hour bus ride to camp, to meals, to sleeping in small bunks with few showers for 4 nights, it takes team bonding to a whole new level. Each year, I went in with my team knowing the girls in my grade and those older than me. But by the time we left, we were closer than when we first stepped off the bus. We make lasting memories throughout the week in the various activities the camp holds and our own shenanigans we have at our cabin to bond with the underclassmen. There was very rarely a dull moment with my teammates, and it created lasting memories that I still talk about.
4. New stunts/dances
Everyone's favorite session is stunting. To watch the staff show off impressive stunts and attempting to learn some of those stunts is always a highlight of camp. It makes all of us extremely sore, so sore that by nighttime the cabins smell like IcyHot, but the rewards are fantastic. It boosts the looks of our routine for the upcoming football season and impresses parents, classmates and other teams as well. Also, all the short dances we learn throughout the camp are fun and provide great material for sideline dances.
5. Spirit Day/Rallies
One of my favorite days of camp, as well as many others, is the last full day of camp known as Spirit Day. It's the last day to truly show your team and school spirit. Everybody pulls out their school colors and wears them proudly all day long. Then every night we have a rally to recap the days events and hand out spirit sticks and the one and only Super Spirit Stick. Again, the rally on the last night, although sad, is by far the best. The staff works on skits and performs them for the camp which usually leave us doubled over in laughter. Between the skits, they hand out spirit sticks, leaving the Super Spirit Stick for last. And it's by far the most suspenseful Super Spirit Stick, and now, for the past 4 years, my school's varsity team has won it this last night. I can only hope the tradition carries on for many more years to come.
6. Cheerobics
The absolute best thing about cheer camp, ask anyone who's been to an NCA camp, is Cheerobics on the last morning. It's one of the first things that we do in the morning, as a way to get us up, stretched and moving. I remember my senior year, we left super early to ensure that we were the first team there and we could be in the front. We "dance" to the same song every year ("Follow the Leader" by The Soca Boys) so by my senior year, we basically had the moves down pat. The song is pretty ridiculous but it makes the stretching easy and gets you warm for the last day of stunting, jumps, and dancing before your final performance the next day.
Cheer camp has given me some of the best memories from any team I played on. And although cheerleading is constantly bashed and pushed down in the world of sports, it's one of the most dangerous and challenging sports I've ever partaken in. I only hope that this reaches cheerleaders far and wide and helps all of us reminsice our favorite cheer memories.
