This time every year, thousands of college cheerleaders from all over the country are headed to Daytona Florida to compete at NCA College Cheerleading Nationals. This is one of the biggest cheerleading competitions of the year. This one competition is what college cheerleaders work for all year long.
Competing on the Bandshell is one of the most amazing experiences. It is something almost every cheerleader dreams about getting to experience one day. There is something so special about competing on the Bandshell. It's not like other competitions. Most other competitions you can't see the crowd because there are bright lights in your face, which is special in its own way, but competing in Daytona is different. The Bandshell is outside, so there aren't bright lights in your face, just the bright sun, so when you look out in the crowd you can see everyone's face. The crowd is right there in front of you, not in a stadium seating, like a lot of places, so they are that much closer to you. Not only can you see everyone's face when you look out in the crowd, but when you look up to the right there are people watching you from restaurant and hotel balconies. Then when you look to the left the beach is right there. The feeling of stepping out on the Bandshell for the first time is indescribable.
One thing that makes competing on the Bandshell so different and so special is the fact that it is outside. The fact that it is outside makes things unpredictable. You never know how hard the wind is going to be blowing or if the sun is going to be directly in your face. You have to be prepared for the unexpected.
Another thing that makes competing on the Bandshell -- and just college cheerleading in general -- amazing is when you look out into the crowd and on the sides of the Bandshell and see your cheer family cheering for you. There are so many people that have come before you in your program, so to see your alumni right there cheering for you the whole time makes you feel so much more connected to your team and makes you want to push that much harder to hit your routine.
The atmosphere the whole time while being in Daytona is something special. There are so many amazing teams there and teams that you've been waiting all year to see. Not only do you have your own teammates supporting each other, but you have other teams supporting you too. Some of us may compete with each other, but we all support each other and want each other to do well.
Teams work so hard all year long to get to compete at this competition. It's different than in all-star cheerleading where you have several competitions you get a chance to compete at throughout the year. For college cheerleaders, this competition is it. You have two days, prelims and finals, to show everyone just how hard you've been working all year to prove that you're the best.
On day one of competing in Daytona, teams compete in a building called the Ocean Center. Every cheerleader that has ever competed there will tell you just how hard that floor is. We are used to tumbling on hard floor all year long, but there is something about that floor that is so much harder. Day two is when you finally get to compete on the long-anticipated Bandshell. The floor on the Bandshell somehow feels like you're competing on a spring floor. The vets on your team will try to explain to you all year long that it feels like a spring floor, but how could a hard floor feel like a spring floor? Sure enough, it does.
One of the biggest superstitions is for the teams not to touch the beach before they compete. It is seen as bad luck to touch the beach until after you've won or competed. You're right by the beach, but you can't even touch it for at least another two days.
Not getting to touch the beach makes it that much more special when you get to touch the beach and run into the water with your team. Some teams don't run into the water unless they win, and some do it whether they win or lose. Either way, getting to run into the water with your team is a special experience that you don't get to experience anywhere else.
NCA College Cheerleading Nationals is so special to every cheerleader that has ever competed there. It is an experience like nothing else. It is so hard to explain the feeling to people that have never experienced it, but anyone that has ever experienced it knows exactly what I'm talking about. I hope every cheerleader gets to experience competing on the Bandshell at least once. I promise you won't regret it.
