All-Star What Do You Do It For?

[Level5Mom]

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.

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I just got massive chill bumps while I read this. I don't ever want it to end.

 

[CharlieCheers]

for my amazing cheer family and incredible gym.<3

 

[caobsession]

alright so let me try putting this into words..

i do it to relive the first time i ever competed every time i compete. my dad still recalls to this day the glow in my smile and the look on my face and thinking "what have we done.." i think i hear from him at least three times a week "you're getting a little insane with this cheerleading thing, dont you think?" but i find it hard to get not get insane about something i'm so crazy and passionate about. without cheerleading i really think my life would be miserable. i feel at home at competitions. although every person at worlds is a stranger, i feel like we're all exactly alike. even through the rivalries and harsh competition, at the end of the day i know i have a love in cheerleading & all who participate in it. i do it because there's no feeling like it. i do it because i don't know what i'd do without it. i do it because cheerleading is who i am, & i love it.

 

[kaylaxlaylaa]

i cheered because theres no greater feeling in the worlds then landing the pass that youve worked all the hard hours to get at a competition and looking to your coach to see there just as excited as you. i cheered for the emotions you cant even put into words when your team hits the perfect routine at a competion, and the moments that you wish you could just live over and over again. i will never forget the feelings i experienced at cheersport 2010 because it was my last competition ever, the feeling of pride when i realized we hit our routine, followed by the harsh realization that, that was my last time out on the floor with my team. the feeling of complete devastation when my team was announced in fourth at awards, but then the feeling of complete happiness that i experienced in my hotel lobby when my coach announced that my team had been scored wrong and we actaully got third place, as he pulled out the medals that we had wanted to get so badly from his backpack. (to medal was our only goal) when i cheered it was my escape from reality, when i walked into the gym i felt like i was at home, and the coaches and my teammates over the years became a second family to me.

to all those people who cant decide if you really want to cheer another season or not, i would strongly encourage you to. because like it was mentioned in a earlier post in here, i would do anything to trade places with you even if it was to compete just one last time. i never realized just how much i loved this sport till i realized that it was coming to an end.

 

[foundmyway2SC]

I want to add to my old post and say that I do it because there's no other feeling than struggling for months to get your first tumbling by yourself and finally doing it. For the past 2 years I've been trying to do round off handsprings and I kept getting it and hurting myself and losing it. I just got it back and it was the most amazing feeling in the world.

 

[TinyBlondie15]

I do it because I love it. There's nothing in the world i'd trade it for.
I do it for the feeling I get when i run onto the mat, the bright lights in my face, barely being able to see my coaches and my mom in the front. I do it for that feeling of utter amazement when we hit. I do it for the nerves that hit me during the awards ceremony. I do it for the friendships I get out of it. For school cheer, I do it for that feeling I get when we hit our half time routine and the feeling I get when we beat our rivals. All in all, I cheer because without it I am nothing. It's the only sport I'm good at.

 

[Nothanks]

i've had this quote on my facebook since i made it like, 6 years ago. and i think it does a pretty good job explaining it.

"people don't do cheerleading because it's fun. ask any cheerleader, most of them will tell you they hate it. but their lives would be nothing without it. it's what we live for. we live for the long car rides, the parties, but also the undefined amount of braces, tape & the unexplainable need for six inhalers. we live for the way we have stupid rituals that are silly, but always manage to push us into first place. we live for marking the routine countless times. we live for sound effects, old songs remixed & snotty voice overs. we live for walking past another team & seeing the fear in their eyes. we live for knowing we are the best in the nation. we live for the competition, the friends, the practices, the memories, the pain & the strangers who became family. even with the rush of nervousness, we live for it. it's what we know. it's who we are. we are allstar cheerleaders."

along with that, i do it for the feeling of accomplishment when i hit something. for the nervousness behind the curtains right before you're called onto the floor, and the rush of adrenaline that split second after you walk through the curtain and see the people and the lights. i do it for the little kids who look up to me, to inspire them to be great. and most of all, i do it for 6 year old me, who fell in love with gymnastics and cheer, and never once looked back.

 

[spiritmama]

I do it for the kids, and because when I'm stressed to the max and want to walk away from it all, a little youth girl will come up to me, hold my hand and tell me she wants to be me when she grows up. When a mom (or dad) off hand tells me how much they respect what my coaches and i do every day. When that shy quiet girl who never spoke stands up in the middle of practice and acts out something silly that happened and has the whole gym laughing. When I send my kids on the floor knowing that they ARE ready and they won't be dissapointed in themselves. When I see them forming life long bonds together. When alumni come back to the gym and invite me to their university graduAtions. When i get to meet former athletes new babies, and because when I feel like I'm burnt out and can't do it anymore, those loyal parents pull me through and remind me that it can be done.
I do it because sometimes, when I feel like I'm not getting through to a kid who I'm fairly sure hates me because I have pushed them so hard to live up to the potential i know they have, I get a text message totally out of the blue just like this:
"dear coach. So I love you . And I will always love you ! Even when I get upset with you. And I lose faith in what is real and what I believe to be true , even when I lose hope in myself and the goals ive set in myself , I sleep it off and remember that you have the biggest heart in the world and you expect greatness in me because you know I can achieve it <3. Just thought I'd let you know.

I do it because it's worth it. It always ends up worth it.

 

[mattiemill]

the feeling you get when:
- your behind the floor, knowing your next
- when your on the mat and you have the numb feeling like your in another world where nothing else matters
- landing a new tumbling pass
- sticking a full up :)
- the team bonds and friendships you make

cheerleading is something i can push myself in and always work towards getting better at and i lovee that.

 

[wildKITTYsofierce.]

At our banquets, three awards are given out to each team. This year, I got the Team Player award! When we got in the car, my mom was like, "That made every 8-hour drive and competition worth it."

I do it to make the coaches proud, for the feeling at the end when my heart stops and for my amazing teammates that have the same love for the sport as I do.<3

 

[kcpack22]

I do it for my team mates, the bonds we build, and the look on our coaches faces when we leave out hearts on the mat. Cheerleading has also helped me grow and mature as an individual. It's taught me commitment, dedication, passion, what real friendships are, and all other gushy words that describe my love for the sport.

(mushy gushy, i know) (:

 

[kaylaxlaylaa]

i wish i could just shimmy every post in this thread repeatedly. i love all of this

 

[Hi-Phlyer21]

there aare no words that can describe how i feel about this, but my life would literally have no meaning without it.:cloud9:

 

[kyyyyyyxo]

the moment when you are standing ready - arms by your side, head down.. you hear your coach say "musics on" and for a few seconds the world goes silent. It is the most nerve racking and adrenaline pounding moment I think I will ever have.

the next best is at the end.. when you hit that last "1", you know you have hit a perfect routine and two seconds later you get to go crazy <3

 

[FamousxMindset]

I do it for the moment when all stunts hit and you see your coaches jumping around.
I do it for the chance to perform
I do it for that feeling when my tumbling starts to improve
I do it for that short weekend in April, when Im in a place I feel comfortable
I do it for the roar of crowd
I do it for everyone who has told me what I cant do and what I wont succeed at
I do it to prove THEM wrong