“Cheer loud and with pride because there’s always that little girl in the stands looking up to you.” Coach K. always said that before each game. Cheerleading took over my life fall through winter. That’s all I ever talked or thought about. Eat, sleep, and cheer. Sometimes it took over a little bit too much of my life though.

Cheerleading is my favorite sport. I’ve been doing it for 2 years and I love it. The feeling you get when you hit the stunt is amazing. A whole rush runs through your body and you get so excited and confident. My first year of cheerleading I was a cheerleader for the Christ the King basketball team. I didn’t really like it that much because we only had one competition and we couldn’t do stunts. In 7th grade I decided to try out for the school team. I absolutely loved it. At first I wasn’t sure if I should try out for the team because I wasn’t sure if I was going to like it. But after one practice I didn’t regret anything. Cheerleading has really had an impact on my life in a big way. It taught me never to give up and to always keep trying if you don’t get it right the first time. Also I was a lot happier after I started cheerleading. It didn’t even have to do with the fact that cheerleaders are always suppose to be happy and energetic and loud. I just loved what I did and doing it with my friends. I made so many new friends on the team and their like my second family. Some people think cheerleading isn’t a sport and all it is, is cheering for the football team to win. That’s what most people think, but they’re wrong. Cheerleading is one of the most dangerous sports for girls to play. On my team there were four people that got injured from cheerleading, including me. After I healed, I got right back to cheerleading.

Even though cheerleading is fun there also came some disadvantages too. Cheerleading practice was 5 days a week from 3pm-6pm. That means that during the week I didn’t have as much time to do my homework or study. Also it gave me less time to eat dinner and shower. Sometimes I would even miss the shows I liked to watch on T.V. At first all that really bothered me. But I got used to it after a little while. Another problem also was I had practice on Friday’s. Usually my friends and I all hang out on Friday. Since I had cheerleading I didn’t really have time for that anymore because when I got home I would be tired from the whole day. Even though there was a down side to cheerleading, I never stopped doing what I loved.

Cheerleading is my life and I’ve made so many new friends because of it. I never stopped doing it just because I had less time to do the things after school I usually do. It was all worth it because cheerleading is something I love doing. This past year I unfortunately sprained my ankle in a stunt and was unable to compete or practice. Next year I’ll be back, hopefully as the captain of the CMS cheerleading team.