Well hello everyone :) The fact that I am not no longer captain of Tsunami this year has been really difficult for me because this team meant everything to me, and they still do. After moving on with my life and being a student at The Pennsylvania State University, I feared losing that part of my life and that it would just be a sport that kept me busy as a young adult. I was so wrong. I think about Tsunami every single day. These girls had such an impact on my life and I can never be more thankful for what the Marlins organization has given to me. That being said, I know they do not have a voice on here any more so I would like to remind you how my team does things. Every single year I would come on these boards and read what the cheer world had to say about my team. Three years ago, on my way to worlds for the FIRST time with my Small Senior team, you know know what the boards had to say? A whole lot of..nothing. Tsunami was not a talked about team, we had about 5 fans total and everyone else didn't know who we were or just blew us off. The few comments that were posted about us were printed out and hung all over the walls in our gym because we thought it was cool that people knew who we were. We place 15th that year and we were so proud because we hit our routine at finals and people started to notice that we might have "potential." The next season we decided to take a huge risk and take on the large senior division. Many people on the boards found this quite comical and predicted that we would not make it to finals. We had a very rocky start, but we worked our butts off and we ended up beating a team in "the big four" in prelims, and placing fifth in the world our FIRST year in the division. As a super senior in our second season as a large team, I believed in my team more than anything. I saw once again, just as every other season as the people in the cheer world doubted us again and again and ripped us apart after every performance. I know how this felt, and it sucked. It sucked after performing with a few mistakes that my first thought was "well the boards are about to tear us to shreads." I knew because I used to be just another fan from a no named team from Maryland who read the boards religiously and I never lost this humble feeling. That season we just kept thinking "it will be worth it, somehow someway it is gonna work out" because for Tsunami, it always had because of how hard we worked for it. After only THREE years at Worlds, we came so far and I am so lucky to have been part of that journey. Worlds 2011 was the best weekend of my life and I do not think I will ever feel the emotions that I experienced that weekend. I could not have more pride as an alumni as I do now because of the way we conquered what was thrown at us last April. I will NEVER forget a single moment, and Tsunami 2011 will always hold it's own special place because they are the most inspiring group of people I will ever have the pleasure of being around.
I heard Tsunami had a few mistakes this weekend, and I knew all eyes would be on them because of our story from worlds and expectations would be EXTREMELY high for them. I knew that Tsunami would most likely have a few errors because at the start, we always do. I knew people would have their opinions and everyone will have things to say so I came to defend the strongest, most hard working girls that I know. Tsunami WILL get there, and they WILL work their hardest. They KNOW they are not perfect, but they do not have a huge organization or a pool of level five cheerleaders and they do not need you guys to tell them. They will train cheerleaders that have never competed level five, and they will train cheerleaders who have never been to worlds. They will take girls with heart and determination and teach them to never stop believing in the dream. They ALLWAYS want to do better and I know that the doubters just fired them up for practices even more than ever. This is the most talented group of girls I have ever seen Tsunami have, and as much as it kills me to not be a part of it, my heart will always be on that mat with them, and I am such a proud fan. "Hated and Underestimated" "Do not underestimate me again" "You had a warning, we came by surprise" come onnnnn people don't you get how this team works yet?! Hahaaa I BELIEVE now more than ever<3 I just want you to remember how new Marlins still is to all of this, and they are still learning so much! They may need a little more time than everyone else, but I know that they are going to be amazing :) You shouldn't need a warning to believe that they are gonna do some damage this season. Love you ladies, and they do appreciate all of the love that is sent. Trust me, it means more than you think. Love your NUMBER ONE FAN, Brittany Trappe