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Lisa Welsh

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By Lisa D. Welsh
www.CHEERMad.com
Follow CHEERMaD on Twitter and Instagram during the National Cheerleaders Association’s Dallas event for the CHEERMaD NCA Treasure Hunt when we give away free cheer gear all weekend long!
We return to Dallas this week a little older and wiser.
ShowStoppers of 2011-2012 arrived in the “Lone Star State” wearing the CHEERSPORT jackets they had earned the weekend before (and probably hadn’t removed). They also received the second highest score out of all the nearly 1,000 teams that competed at CHEERSPORT last year .
The Youth team was unaware of its following on YouTube until they were swarmed walking into the NCA practice area. A reality-show camera crew followed them around that weekend and interviewed the parents a la “Dance Moms.”

ShowStoppers 2011-2012 at NCA last year
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But after the competitions and awards, my girls wanted to watch the higher level teams. Becky held Rachel’s hand while walking around the Dallas Convention Center, politely smiling when a stranger came up to them.
“Are you a ShowStopper,” he asked. “Be still my heart. How’d you do?”
When Rachel pulled back a little, not knowing what to say or do, Becky said “I’m not but my sister is. They came in second.”
Placing second at NCA is a major accomplishment. ShowStoppers were .07 of a point behind the first-place team. It would be the singular second place of their season -which included seven out of ten scores naming them Grand Champs. The team ended the season as the USASF’s All Levels’ Youth 2 Champions, for the second year in a row.

Gabe, Jazmin and Rachel focused and fierce
The ShowStoppers of 2012-2013 are competing as a Level 3 team and have risen to the challenge. But not without some surprises thrown at them. A teammate suddenly left the night before the first National competition, the routine was changed, an athlete got sick on the mat and the group of seven to 11-year olds still placed first that weekend. The next competition, tired and not quite into the season’s momentum, ShowStoppers didn’t do as well.
“It’s the first time I’ve ever come in third in my whole life,” my ten-year old said on the drive home.
It had taken three years but I’d been waiting for that moment. One must lose to appreciate winning.

Becky and Rachel’s teams both won CHEERSPORT 2011
When Becky was Rachel’s age, post-competition rides were rarely accompanied by a jacket, medal or trophy. In fact, Becky had been competing for four years before her team placed first and competed several more years before its next win. Rachel’s first year as an Allstar was on an undefeated team. Becky received her one and only CHEERSPORT jacket during her last year as an Allstar; Rachel received her first of two jackets at her CHEERSPORT debut.
In addition to their love for cheer, my daughters share an intense competitive spirit. Losing has afforded Becky a perspective that Rachel hasn’t earned. “The better team that day won” or sometimes “the best team doesn’t always win.” “No matter what happens, keep going,” “Never give up” and my favorite; Dori’s “Just keep swimming…Just keep swimming” are life lessons, not just mantras for the mat. “Nothing is guaranteed.”
On Saturday, ShowStoppers received its first Level 3 Grand Champion award of the season. It was one of those experiences when you could feel the win before they left the mat. But, older and wiser, the kids knew “winning wasn’t a given” and “winning wasn’t everything.
They will spend this week in extra practices and the pre-Dallas mood already feels serious. The elation of winning is a great motivator but the memory of last year’s defeat seems to be driving this team. ”Nothing is guaranteed” except an older, wiser Youth Level 3.
Information from the National Cheerleaders Association
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Lawrence Herkimer organized the first spirit company, the National Cheerleaders Association in 1948. The first cheerleading camp, held in Huntsville, Texas, included speech lessons to improve delivery, and English classes which focused on the use of rhyme as a basis for creating cheers. The National Cheerleaders Association continues to promote more than just technical training at their summer camps. For six decades, NCA has been successful at building character, promoting leadership and instilling discipline in teen-agers and young adults from coast to coast and abroad.
Through the years, NCA has worked hard to dispel popular Hollywood myths about cheerleaders and dancers, hiring statisticians to compile data that shows:
  • 82% of today’s cheerleaders and dance team members maintain a B or higher average;
  • 86% participate in a second sport;
  • 82% are accepted into colleges;
  • 68% hold another leadership role at their school.
It’s more hard work and diligence than glitz and glamour when squads take center stage on the playing fields to rally peers to cheer their teams to victory. Through summer camps, cheerleading squads and dance teams practice, practice, practice until their performances click with precision.\
THE NCA CREED
NCA seeks to instill in young people the values and habits that will enable them to compete, endure, and become successful in life: preparation, dedication, tenacity, perseverance, self-sacrifice, teamwork, and leadership to name but a few. These are the values they will need to navigate the difficult transitions of life: from child to adolescent to young adult to parent to senior citizen. These are the values they will draw upon to preserve their marriages, their families, and their jobs. And these are the values that NCA wishes to instill in young people through their participation in cheerleading:
In all that we do, we tirelessly attempt to be true to our creed, the nine statements of the beliefs we hold dear:
  1. Cheerleading activities are bonding opportunities around which the entire family can unite.
  2. Team cohesion and performance is prized above individual talents and accomplishments.
  3. No single individual makes a team successful; teams become successful through the collective talents and best efforts of all their members.
  4. Excellence in the classroom ranks as first priority; ahead of excellence in the gym, stadium, or field.
  5. There is no substitute for hard work and preparation.
  6. Perseverance, resourcefulness, and dedication will overcome obstacles and setbacks.
  7. There are no closer friendships than those made through practicing, losing, and winning together as a team.
  8. Small triumphs promote confidence, self-esteem, dedication, and desire paving the way for future, larger triumphs.
  9. The performance arena is merely a practice area for the larger arena of life.
 
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