Well, I have a few that I can think of off the top of my head:
1. I was never lucky enough to have the cheer curls. Instead, my poor mother had to roll my 3-feet of hair into about 30 curlers, which was then piled on top of my head an wrapped in a bandanna. I looked like a container of Jiffy Pop lol... and I had to sleep like that, and go to school like that, because HS competitions used to be on Friday nights!!
2. I didn't have a uniform with lettering on it until 11th grade... before that, it was just a plain shell... and underneath it was a snap-in-the-crotch white bodyliner with my NAME embroidered on the neck. This also matched the homemade bows that our team sported, which someone's Mom made for us... they had our names embroidered on the tails of the bow, and they looked like they belonged on top of a new Mercedes lol
3. I remember when my coaches had no cheer experience, and were just teachers at our school. We taught ourselves how to do everything by watching other teams and just trying stuff lol. I remember a girl on my team who did a full-down out of an extension for the first time, and we said "wow! you spin fast! this time, you should try a double!" so she did... and broke her back's nose haha.
4. Competitive high school teams USED TO be much better than all star teams.
5. I remember being told to go up on my toes to prep for jumps lol
6. I can't believe no one has mentioned CHEER MIX. There were like 30 volumes of pre-made Cheer Mixes, and if you used one, you were bound to run into someone at competition with the same music. My senior year in high school, our coach chose the Inspector Gadget mix. It was a real gem lmao
7. The first time I heard a customized voiceover in a team's music, it blew my mind. I was like "WHAT!? HOW DID THEY GET THAT!?"
8. The first time I had boyshorts was college... I thought they were the most miraculous wedgie-cure ever
9. All Star Teams used to just be rec teams that were named after the town they were in, or they were named after the county they were located in: Polk County All Stars, Bergen County All Stars, etc
10. All I needed was a standing BHS to make my competitive college team. We cut 4 people in January before nationals because they had no tumbling, and our coach wanted a full-team ROBHS section lol
11. Remember when you actually chose alternates for a team? Too bad we dont do that anymore, maybe it would solve the whole crossover debate lol
12. Also, I liked it when you got free sandals with your cheer shoes, just saying:)