I tried to avoid looking at the other teams practicing as I walked to the arena, I needed to focus on my routine. When I entered the HP Field House filled with 11,000 cheerleaders and spectators, my stomach sank and nerves hit me instantly. I started running through our routine and warming up stunts and tumbling. Before we stepped on the mat, we huddled together and my coach said, “You’ve got two minutes and thirty seconds to leave your mark. That’s all you need. Embrace it. Cherish it. Conquer it. Make it count.” The host of the event lead us up to the stage area where we waited to perform. This is the most stressful part of competing: waiting behind the curtain, hearing the music of the other teams performing, listening to the crowd screaming, …show more content…
Even, some consider cheerleading as just a “hobby,”but competitive cheer has helped me grow as an individual. I learned dedication, time management, sacrifices. I spent countless hours in the gym working on skills to be the best. If there is any lesson that cheerleading teaches you, it is how to be the best as a team and individually. You have to be determined and dedicated to be successful. By becoming the best, you help out your whole team. I can’t win without my team, and my team can’t win without me. When you have practice multiple times a week, and competitions almost every weekend, you are forced to learn the importance of time management. You have to do homework on the way to practice or on the way to competitions. If you ever get the chance to study, take advantage of it. In competitive cheerleading, you learn that you have to make sacrifices. You give up most of your weekends for competitions and dedicate your time to cheerleading. Not only does this apply to cheerleading, but will apply when I graduate. Most importantly, cheerleading taught me that my team is family. When I spend everyday practicing with a group of girls and guys the bond becomes unbreakable. I learned that family extends farther than the people I am related to and includes teammates, coaches, and fellow gym