Ups and Downs

Ups and Downs of the early season
AUG 24, 2006
I swore to myself that I was going to practice what I preach and stay positive all the time about Cheerleading no matter what this year. I think that even Norman Vincent Peal would find that one to be a challenge.

Whenever you have tryouts in the Spring for Football Cheer, you hope to get 10-20 candidates that you can choose 6-8 great cheerleaders from. We had 4 candidates. Mind you, they're all great cheerleaders. Even though three were freshmen and one had quit before the end of basketball season last winter, I was going to stay positive.

But it seems like we got whittled away as time goes on. One freshman wasn't sure. Her guardians are her older brother and his wife. First her brother didn't want her to cheer, he wanted her to go out for a "real" sport like volleyball. Then her sister-in-law decided that she needed to babysit her younger sister everyday. So she's off the roster. Would've made a good flier too.

Then another freshman must have gotten in trouble at home of mouthed off or something, because her mom was thinking of not allowing her to cheer at all, but conceded to let her so long as she only came to two practices a week.

I was excited when a girl who cheered for years at Charter Oak-Ute transfered to BV and told me she was interested. But she was really just interested in basketball season. And then she ran into a mess with her transcripts so now she has to take a night class if she wants any hope of graduating.

But just when I was ready to get all negative and feel sorry for myself, I watched the 3 I had practice. They remember most of their stuff. They're really pretty good. Just 2 of them are as loud a a lot of whole squads. They have some fun ideas for 8-count dances. What the heck, 3 can be a good thing. I offered to scrap the first pep rally and they just about killed me- no way were they going to not have a first pep rally. Okay, well, alright.

Then this afternoon, a transfer student from Pennsylvania finally made contact with me and commited to this season. Not long after that another girl who'd cheered in junior high was hanging out in my room and I asked her (half in jest) if she'd come out and she committed right there!

Just goes to show, there's never a good reason to complain or give up hope. You never know what the next day holds. Other adults have their concerns about all 5 of these kids as far as attitudes or behavior goes. You never know. I've taken a chance on some kids and really been burned in the past. On the other hand, I've had kids who other adults would write-off and complain about and judge up one side and down the other who have turned out to be absolute assets, hard-working and spirited athletes who I wouldn't trade.

I really love these first three, I don't think anyone around here has known the fourth long enough to label her or put her in a box, and I've always had good interactions and great work from the fifth, so I'm actually looking forward to the season. Now between parents, transportation and jobs, who knows how often we'll actually be able to have all 5 work together- but I've resolved not to whine about it.

And we get one last season out of our Senior Mascot, Brett. We talk about theology a lot when he rides shotgun in the van to away games. Those conversations go a long way toward keeping me sane.

EIGHT junior high cheerleaders and a mascot. That rocks too!