Growing up, most kids play soccer, football, or they dance. These sports are common and the average person has some sort of idea or opinion about them.
Ask me what sport I played as a child and I'll likely say a mix between gymnastics, dance and cheer, because most people have a less than ideal definition of what cheer means.
The sport is often overlooked because of the makeup, the uniforms and, of course, the Hollywood renditions, but the competitive cheer I dedicated over 10 years of my life to is not that of the typical "rah rah" cheer. I forced my body to do stunts and tumbling most people couldn't think about without cringing.
Growing up, very few of my friends or family understood what I was doing, and if they did, they couldn't understand why I was doing it.
Competitive cheerleading took an incredible toll on my body. Ask any ex-cheerleader and they'll agree with me, the injuries and tweaks still hurt. Cheer shaped my personality, gave me my best friend and taught me the importance of perseverance. I was willing to push myself beyond what I ever thought was possible because of the incredible teammates and coaches I had.
We, as athletes, compete with broken bones, stomach flu and concussions — against all doctor's orders, of course. My mom and dad reluctantly supported me through all of it, and they knew when they said, "Sit out at practice, you've been throwing up all day," that I'd never sit out.
Many of my friends would cut off their casts or bring trash cans to practice in case they might puke. My teammates were beyond dedicated, and therefore, I had to be too. Letting down those 36 girls (sometimes boys) was not an option.
Never again will I complain or whine when I'm sick or injured... because of cheer. It taught me to be tough — maybe too tough. But it most importantly taught me what it's like to be relied on and to rely on others.
I couldn't count the number of times before a tumbling pass, or during a stunt, that someone on my team was there to tell me they had my back and I could do it. This support gave me confidence in myself and confidence in the skills I worked so hard to develop, but it also reminded me that these same girls needed me to pull my weight.
Competitions are not like a sports game. You don't have two hours to make up for mistakes or turn a game around. You're given two minutes and thirty seconds to execute your routine perfectly, or the hours you spent bleeding, sweating and practically dying in the gym would feel worthless. It is the ultimate "hit or miss" sport. And you would travel all over the United States for two minutes and thirty seconds to prove yourself.
Competitive cheerleading will never be an average sport, and despite ESPN's attempt to broadcast Worlds or any other competition the opinion of cheer will likely not change. It's because of the Hollywood renditions and uneducated opinions that competitive cheer is undermined. And these athletes' hard work and dedication is hardly recognized.
Despite the negative connotation many people associate with cheer, I could never imagine playing a different sport. I'll always proudly be an ex-cheerleader.
