All-Star What Do You Do It For?

[Mamarazzi]

I do it because...

Ummm cheerleading is optional? You mean we have a choice whether she cheers or not?

Um...no. Not so much.

 

[WorkToWin]

I LOVE stunting. Even though I'm a back base. Yes, no one watches me during stunts and flyers get all of the glory... but at the same time my absolute favorite feeling in the world is when I make a "hero" catch or save. I love knowing that my flyer trusts me. And I don't care if I don't get the glory, because in the end of the day, I am my flyer's hero.

 

[WorkToWin]

Ok, just kidding, I'm not even near done, that was just the beginning of my list.

1. I LOVE my coaches. I would do anything for them and respect them so much, and in return they love and respect me too. It's like I have 5 parents instead of just 2 and even after I am done cheering I am going to stay close with them.
2. I love my teammates. I always have the funniest group of girls. We have so many personalities on the team. We have the quiet and sweet girls... and the loud and funny girls. Everyone brings something different to the team and we are all so close.
3. I love the competition. I love competing and the feeling you get right after you did well. The feeling when you just KILLED everything and then during dance you can hear the crowd exploding and you couldn't stop smiling for anything.
4. I love watching other teams. There is no way my parents would just pay to fly me to Indianapolis, Dallas, and Florida. I get to go because I am competing. Meanwhile, I get to watch all of the best teams from around the nation live.
5. I love tumbling. Not only is it so cool, it feels amazing. You get to fly through the air. Not to mention the feeling you get after you get a new skill. I am not a natural tumbler. I spend hours and hours extra in the gym every week working on every skill I get. Yes, it sucks watching little girls get it the 5th try after I work for a year. But still, the more you work for it the more you will appreciate it. After working for a whole entire year, when I finally got my full I was literally crying I was so happy.
6. I love how much it impresses my friends. They all think it is so amazing and want to come watch me.
7. I love the lessons it teaches you. It teaches discipline, hard work, teamwork, dedication, mental strength, respect,quick thinking, trust... the list goes on. It's not just about cheer, it's about what I am learning from it that I will keep with me for the rest of my life.
8. I love the uniforms. They are adorable! I love bows, and sparkles, and makeup...
9. I love the respect and love within the entire cheer community. Midwest Cheer Elite's tragedy... everyone helped from across the Country. It touches my heart how much people care. Then the girl at Green Bay Elite had a house fire. People once again sent in things from every corner of the US to help her out. When I hear about a natural disaster the first thing I think about is what gym is near there and I hope everyone there is OK. (Obviously I pray for everyone and want everyone to be alright).

Words can not describe how much I love all star cheerleading.

 

[SDawn427]

This thread made me bawl, I've only been through one season...but it's what I live for.
1.) The feeling as your walking onto the mat, Where your like "what'd I'd get myself into?" but then the routine starts and all the worries and fears go away.
2.) NCA 2011 was my first HUGE competition...I was so scared before performing, I said "I don't even wanna go on." One of my coaches looked at me and said, "You go out there and do what we've seen this team do a million times, I believe in you, I believe y'all can hit, Don't say you don't wanna go on, Live every routine like its your last because one day, it will be your last." He then told me he would do anything to switch places with me. Let me tell you after that, We hit.
3.) that leads me to the feeling when your routine HITS! not even holding your ending because your already on the ground hugging your teammate balling, screaming "We did it!"
4.) fighting for the routine. I am a backspot..The feeling when your team trust you to catch them and not let them come down, I'll tell you I am a fighter on the mat...
5.) I had horrible asthma, I started competitive cheer, i was told I couldn't make it through a routine, I can, & i haven't had an asthma attack since. I believe it may have saved my life<3.
6.) stress reliever....It's what i do when I cannot even keep my head on straight.
7.) Tumbling, I had a mental block, & the way my coaches didn't give up hope, I am now doing my full again & progressing like crazy.
8.) when you step on the mat, and you see the whole crowd standing up for you, SCREAMING. This is what i experienced this season, at ACA nationals, I was walking behind some cheer athletics level 5 athletes just in downtown ft.worth and I heard one of them go have you seen that woodlands j5, they were SICK!!! little did they know I was behind them, me and my friend started laughing, they turn around and go "are y'all on Colonels?" we said yes, and they said "You guys are amazing." I went to my hotel to see facebook status' and twitter updates from people from other gyms about my team, this made me feel on top of the world and it meant the world to me. They made my year worth it<3. The practices I would go home with no hope that i'd tumble again, the nights i spent at the gym to be better, the extra practices, the bonding, the competitions, the tears, sweat, pulled muscles, sprained ankles, and more that I went through were all made worth while, when your hard work is recognized.

 

[cheermommaRN]

5.) I had horrible asthma, I started competitive cheer, i was told I couldn't make it through a routine, I can, & i haven't had an asthma attack since. I believe it may have saved my life<3.
.

I remember when I was told the same thing about my cp. Her pedi said she was to frail and would never be able to do any kind of sport that involved endurance. Her 1st tiny team she slept in the corner of the mat most practices because she would get so winded. She constantly had pneumonia, croup, or some other respiratory illness. We put her in gymnastics because we thought it would be easier for her. She ended up being moved to a special advanced class and never had an issue again. I believe it was the conditioning that helped her get there.
We keep coming back because my child constantly amazes me with the things she can do! Watching her do skills I never have been able to do is worth every penny!

 

[iluvcheer]

I do it for the moments. Like when you land a new rumbling pass you've been working so hard for, or you hit your stunt, or coming into the dance after you hit a routine. The adrenaline you get when performing, the excitement of the crowd.... Is what makes cheer the best sport ever

 

[jiannib]

I do it for the moment when your sitting on the floor and the announcer calls your team's name as first place, for the moment the crowd goes crazy after hitting a stunt, the moment you're walking out on that floor, nervous as ever, and the lights are shining right on you. I do it for the people I'm glad to call my second family.

 

[Seeker30]

i wish i could tell my story, but its very dear to my heart! and i really dont want to be crying behind this screen. haha :')
but im glad this thread is here because i too like many others have been contemplating on whether staying or not!
and after reading this! i am going to stay with no doubt and live it up! before my cheer days are over.
cuz, i bearly started and its already coming to an end! /:

 

[Giselle]

I do it because I honestly don't know what I would do without cheerleading. It helped me break out of my shell, and not be scared to be in front of people. I love that feeling of being up there in front of so many people and having all eyes on you and the girls/boys you spend the majority of your life with. Its also like the greatest feeling in the world when you hit your routine.

139852607% agree. before i was a cheerleader i was super shy and because of it i didnt have many friends. since i've been a cheerleader i spend time with these people more than my friends at school. my teammates and coaches arent just that. they're my family and i wouldnt know what to do without them. yes we may complain at practice about how exhuasted and tired we are, but what would we do without this sport and eachother. i'll be graduating from HS next weekend and at the end of this competition season i was so sad because the thought of not cheering anymore sucks. yeah i could do international but it's not the same. thank goodness i am young enough to do a team again this year but it'll be sad when it's over. also there's nothing in the world like competing against and with people who love this sport as much as you do.

 

[Angelica]

I love this thread

 

[iCheer4G]

I do it because I cant not do it! Not cheering is not an option! took my freshmen year off and it was the worst decision I had even made! But I love the feeling of being on stage and I love hitting your stunt thats been falling all week or landing the tumbling pass that no one thought you could do! Plus I like showing my non cheer friends what I do when they tell me the cheerleading isn't a sport!

 

[xcourtneylynnex]

I do it for that feeling of nerves rushing through my entire body every time they're announcing one of my teams to take the mat. I do it for that feeling half way through the routine when all I want to do is stop but I tell myself, and everyone else around me, to push, and I somehow manage to get through the rest of the routine. I do it for the feeling I get while walking off the mat after a perfect routine and seeing the looks on the coaches and parents faces. I do it for the feeling I get at awards, when I'd rather be anywhere else than on that mat. I do it for the end of the year videos that make me sob. I do it for the coaches who are like my parents, and probably see me more than my parents do on competition weekends. I do it for the kids on my teams who become my brothers and sisters, and who come to know me better than anyone else. I do it because cheerleaders "get" me. I do it because it's who I am.

I'm going away to college next year and I'm going to commute back to cheer on two teams and coach two teams. And this is why.

 

[CDRCoach17]

I had a child who was deathly afraid of a standing backhandspring. In a time when doubles and fulls.....she was scared of a backhandspring. I was able to help her lose that fear, and she threw it on Sunday. I do it for moments like this. I am able to help young people's lives....not just by cheering, but in other areas. Every year I say it will be my last, but a moment like Sunday proved to me that I need to continue.

 

[Mamarazzi]

Every year I say it will be my last, but a moment like Sunday proved to me that I need to continue.

That child is glad that you decided to continue

 

[kayleigh]

I do it because there's no other bond like the bond that you make with your teammates. they are your family whether you like it or not, and they will be there for you through everything. The 2:30 on the floor and that feeling when you hit a perfect routine are feelings i never ever want to forget. I didn't cheer for part of last season because of heart problems then a concussion when i tried going back to some sort of cheer. Once i saw my team compete their routine for the first time without me i started crying. I do it because cheerleading is something i've grown up with and something i really dont know how to live without. I can not go one day without talking or thinking about cheer.