Benefits of Youth Cheerleading
My big sister started cheerleading when I was four years old, and I thought it looked difficult and intimidating. I usually did everything my sister did, but I was painfully shy. Performing for strangers sounded terrifying. For years I told my mom I didn’t want to cheer. She figured I’d change my mind, but she didn’t press it. When I was seven, my sister’s team made it to Regionals. I was swimming in the hotel pool and so were many of her teammates. I was very tiny, and they wanted to put me up in a stunt. I was terrified, but I was overruled. They put me up, and….it was the most fun I’d ever had! My mom asked me a couple months later if I wanted to sign up, and I said something along the lines of “Obviously.” And the rest is history.
Youth cheerleading taught me a great number of things, but the most important one for me, was confidence. With a team behind me, I could smile for people. I could even yell. I didn’t have to do everything by myself. I learned my part, and the rest of the kids learned theirs. Together we created something so much bigger than I could have imagined. We were the first team from our town to ever win. And the next year, we won again and even placed at Regionals. Another first for our town.
I realized, I was good at this. We were good at this. But I wanted to be better. We all did.
So, we worked. Hard. Every day. I took tumbling lessons in the off season. I watched every competition my sister went to, so I could learn more about cheerleading. I worked on my flexibility, so I would have more stunts to do. I did pushups and sit-ups in my room. I needed to be stronger.
And the next year I was. I had all these new skills, because I had worked for them. And everyone looked at me, and wanted those skills too. They went to tumbling classes, they worked on their flexibility, and they started coming to my sister’s competitions. They wanted to learn more. Together we did.
We had a rough year. We weren’t physically strong enough to do the skills we needed to advance. We didn’t win. But we did find our new rivals. They kept beating us. And we didn’t like it.
So, we worked harder. We took more tumbling classes. Our coaches went to classes and asked for advice. They used Excel spreadsheets and super techy dance choreography software for our formations.
But more importantly, we worked together. All 31 girls yelled the cheer as we ran laps around the field. All 31 girls encouraged each other to get the stunts we needed. And all 31 girls worked to be better. We weren’t all best friends, but we were committed to being good teammates. Sometimes Jasmine would be mad that Laci was always in the front, but instead of holding a grudge, Jasmine worked harder. Laci had earned that spot, and if Jasmine wanted it, she was going to have to earn it too.
We didn’t have all the difficult skills we needed that year either, but we still won. In fact, we made it to Nationals. Again, we were the first team from our town. It was a huge deal. We’d won the cheerleading lottery. In fact, I think we’d thought our odds of winning the real lottery were better! We were shocked, and thrilled, and the day they announced the finalists is still the best day of my life.
Working so hard for something, and to earn it is the greatest feeling in the world. Teamwork and discipline is important in all sports, but in cheerleading, you can’t succeed without it. If we hadn’t had the self-discipline to work both in and out of practice, we would never have gotten as far as we did. Without teamwork, and trust in your teammates, you won’t be able to do your routine. You literally have teammates holding each other up. You have to trust that they won’t let you down.
I’ve played other sports and I’ve been on other teams. But cheerleading is the only sport where I wanted to succeed for my team. I always want to win for myself of course, but it means more when you do it with your team.
It’s been nearly 15 years since we first made it to Nationals. Some of those girls have moved out of the country. Some are married with children (and yes, the ones that are old enough cheer!). I’m connected on social media with every one of my old teammates. And every single one of us is still (real life) friends with at least a few of our old teammates.
Cheerleading forms an unbreakable bond. It teaches young kids life lessons that cannot be taught in every day life. Discipline and teamwork can be explained, but until a young person experiences it, they can’t really understand it. Cheerleading is a team sport that imparts many of the key ingredients for leadership. Cheerleading is a big reason for my success in my career and in my family life.