Hi, everyone!
Here is a bit of background on why I'm asking this question: I'm 22 years old, and have never done cheer before. I've been doing ballet since I was 19 but before that, I never did any sort of dance or cheer. As someone who has grown up with ADHD, I know there are a lot of things I can do and that ADHD may make them harder, but not impossible. But recent events have me questioning whether or not this is realistic. Last week, I tried out for my college's cheer team. I go to a small, historically women's college, and cheer isn't big at my school. But this year, there was a ton of interest. The first day, I couldn't make it because I had a two-hour ballet class during the tryouts, so they sent me the videos over email. Unfortunately, the videos weren't sent until early the next morning, so I didn't really have a chance to look at them until after my classes. The second day went super well, and I picked up the cheers, chants, and dance somewhat fast. During the second day, someone asked the captain if the tryouts would be individual or group tryouts, and we were told they would not be individual. However, the next day (the last day of tryouts), they changed it last minute and told us ten minutes before the tryouts that they would be individual and that basically, the tryouts were going to be nothing like the way they told us to expect.
They explained that they would go over it one last time before the tryouts and then it'd be a group thing. But instead of doing this, they told us that they'd just evaluate us and let us go our separate ways. Unfortunately for me, I had gotten there super early and was the second person to go. I practiced all the way up until the tryout itself. But as soon as they said that the tryouts would be individual, it threw me way off. Historically, individual tryouts and evaluations have not gone well for me. In the past when trying out for a spot in a very good ballet school, I once again had to simply rely on working memory that I just don't have (without being told that I would have to do this!) I've spent months working on choreography just to still not know how to even start it, taken rigorous private lessons, worked on choreo three days a week in class, and STILL not been able to retain all of it. Some of it, but not all. So, when they called me back there, I was really fighting off a panic attack. I got in there, and couldn't do anything. I couldn't remember the cheers. I could barely do the dance. I couldn't even recite the chants. I just stared at them like a deer in the headlights. So, unsurprisingly, I didn't make the team. I know there were a lot of factors here that made this significantly harder for me to be successful, but there were others there that had several of the same hurdles as me that didn't seem to have any problem. When I was in the group setting, even though I was a little off with my timing, I was able to learn the cheers and chants and everything in just two hours. Individually, I just forgot everything. And if I'm being honest, even if I was given another shot, I would not be able to do it individually. My brain just does not work that way. I retain technique, I remember the music, I remember timing pretty well usually. But I cannot remember anything else unless I see it in front of me.
I just feel really crappy, honestly. I hate that my brain struggles to retain this type of information. I know that it's possible for me to do these things, but it's not very often that I'm given the chance or even fair opportunities to show that I can do it. It's one thing to get cut from my school's team, but I want to do competition cheer eventually. If I can't even remember a few cheers and a dance, am I really cut out for harder things like comp cheer? I'm already too old to be starting cheer for the first time in general. I can't also be genuinely terrible at it. I understand why I was cut, and honestly, it probably would have been more insulting to be put on the team after that awful evaluation. There is no way they could have put me on the team without it being done out of pity. It was THAT bad.
Does anyone else have ADHD and struggle with remembering cheers/chants/dances?
Regardless of whether or not I'm cut out for this, I'm going to keep trying. I already had plans to take cheer classes, learn tumbling, and go to clinics at this gym near me. I've been doing ballet for three years now and I still struggle with retaining combinations in class and remembering choreography at all, but I love the art just like I love this sport so I guess I'll just keep subjecting myself to accidental ableism and humiliation until I find teachers and coaches who hear and see me for how passionate I am about these things (I've already found that with dance!) I guess I just want to know that I'm not as alone in this as I feel.
Here is a bit of background on why I'm asking this question: I'm 22 years old, and have never done cheer before. I've been doing ballet since I was 19 but before that, I never did any sort of dance or cheer. As someone who has grown up with ADHD, I know there are a lot of things I can do and that ADHD may make them harder, but not impossible. But recent events have me questioning whether or not this is realistic. Last week, I tried out for my college's cheer team. I go to a small, historically women's college, and cheer isn't big at my school. But this year, there was a ton of interest. The first day, I couldn't make it because I had a two-hour ballet class during the tryouts, so they sent me the videos over email. Unfortunately, the videos weren't sent until early the next morning, so I didn't really have a chance to look at them until after my classes. The second day went super well, and I picked up the cheers, chants, and dance somewhat fast. During the second day, someone asked the captain if the tryouts would be individual or group tryouts, and we were told they would not be individual. However, the next day (the last day of tryouts), they changed it last minute and told us ten minutes before the tryouts that they would be individual and that basically, the tryouts were going to be nothing like the way they told us to expect.
They explained that they would go over it one last time before the tryouts and then it'd be a group thing. But instead of doing this, they told us that they'd just evaluate us and let us go our separate ways. Unfortunately for me, I had gotten there super early and was the second person to go. I practiced all the way up until the tryout itself. But as soon as they said that the tryouts would be individual, it threw me way off. Historically, individual tryouts and evaluations have not gone well for me. In the past when trying out for a spot in a very good ballet school, I once again had to simply rely on working memory that I just don't have (without being told that I would have to do this!) I've spent months working on choreography just to still not know how to even start it, taken rigorous private lessons, worked on choreo three days a week in class, and STILL not been able to retain all of it. Some of it, but not all. So, when they called me back there, I was really fighting off a panic attack. I got in there, and couldn't do anything. I couldn't remember the cheers. I could barely do the dance. I couldn't even recite the chants. I just stared at them like a deer in the headlights. So, unsurprisingly, I didn't make the team. I know there were a lot of factors here that made this significantly harder for me to be successful, but there were others there that had several of the same hurdles as me that didn't seem to have any problem. When I was in the group setting, even though I was a little off with my timing, I was able to learn the cheers and chants and everything in just two hours. Individually, I just forgot everything. And if I'm being honest, even if I was given another shot, I would not be able to do it individually. My brain just does not work that way. I retain technique, I remember the music, I remember timing pretty well usually. But I cannot remember anything else unless I see it in front of me.
I just feel really crappy, honestly. I hate that my brain struggles to retain this type of information. I know that it's possible for me to do these things, but it's not very often that I'm given the chance or even fair opportunities to show that I can do it. It's one thing to get cut from my school's team, but I want to do competition cheer eventually. If I can't even remember a few cheers and a dance, am I really cut out for harder things like comp cheer? I'm already too old to be starting cheer for the first time in general. I can't also be genuinely terrible at it. I understand why I was cut, and honestly, it probably would have been more insulting to be put on the team after that awful evaluation. There is no way they could have put me on the team without it being done out of pity. It was THAT bad.
Does anyone else have ADHD and struggle with remembering cheers/chants/dances?
Regardless of whether or not I'm cut out for this, I'm going to keep trying. I already had plans to take cheer classes, learn tumbling, and go to clinics at this gym near me. I've been doing ballet for three years now and I still struggle with retaining combinations in class and remembering choreography at all, but I love the art just like I love this sport so I guess I'll just keep subjecting myself to accidental ableism and humiliation until I find teachers and coaches who hear and see me for how passionate I am about these things (I've already found that with dance!) I guess I just want to know that I'm not as alone in this as I feel.
