What a difference!

Wow. I never knew that coaching cheer could be this fun or this easy. I'm scared. I'm waiting for the shoe to drop. Maybe it won't, maybe this is the way it's supposed to be. Maybe God has granted me this season's new squad because He feels like I paid my dues last season.

The mom of one candidate who didn't make it back on now hates me and her daughter is never allowed to go out for cheer again. Nor is she allowed to become mascot ( I BEGGED her to, but she's on Drill squad and thought that she'd be gross and sweaty when it was time to perform with Drill, and I suppose she's right.) It makes me sad when a student's attitude and response is more mature than their parents. I really love that kid and was rooting for her to make it back on, but she really needs to work on her grades anyway.

Another mom chewed me out on the phone the other day for nearly 40 minutes. Her daughter and decided not to come back out (maybe she sized up the competition and saw the writing on the wall) she asked if she could help with JrHi cheer on the days she doesn't have Weight Lifting- who knows, maybe she could improve and tryout again next season. She's only a Freshman so she'll have 6 more opportunities- besides many of this season's cheerleaders plan on playing volleyball rather than cheering next Fall. On top of that, she had surgery to have her wisdom teeth out just before tryouts and had some bad reactions to her pain-killers, so she was really in no condition to tryout even if she had wanted to.

Now her mom is angry with me for not rescheduling tryouts. She's still a mess this week. Our first game is Dec 3, I wish I could have had tryouts a month earlier- we're going to be pushing it to be ready as it is. Her mom is blaming a poor quiz grade on her not being in cheer anymore. I think that missing a week of school and beeing doped up on vicodin might have hurt a little. She's scared to death that her kid is going to be up to no good every Friday night and she banked on her getting back on squad when she registered for a class every Friday. Sorry lady (and I was genuinly sorry) but I can't make the entire world revolve around your fears and needs. Today this girl was in tears in my room because her mom was so angry at her for not being a cheerleader anymore. (the Jr Hi squad was gone to middle school activity.) All I could do was try to reassure her that everybody goes through this kind of thing when they separate from their parents' orbit durring adolescence.

But back to THIS season's squad. Holy Cow! They learn so fast. They have so much energy and enthusiasm. They're so sharp. They're so coachable and cooperative. They get along with each other and there's no DRAMA! No crying, no kussing, no tantrums. They want to workout durring conditioning. They don't cut corners, they don't whine.

Wow. Thank you Jesus! Thank you Jesus! Thank you Jesus! Thank you Jesus! Thank you Jesus! Thank you Jesus! Thank you Jesus!

Amen.

Now...

Our mascot is still uncommitted. There are at least 5 or 6 people who have talked to me about wanting to do it (including the 2nd girl who's mom hates me, but not the first one who already turned me down). So, I guess I need to take home my mascot manual and try to brainstorm a tryout process and then set a date.