I just got home from my last practice of the year as Tri Central's fifth grade cheer coach. It was definitely a rollercoaster ride of a season.
About a year ago I was asked if I would be interested in being the head coach for the JV cheer squad at TC. I thought and prayed about it but ultimately ended up saying no. Tri Central's cheerleaders don't compete and that is the part of cheerleading that I am obsessed with. JV cheerleading would have been a huge time committment with the football and basketball season, and without the drive of competition I just knew that my heart wouldn't be in it. I am one of the loud and proud former cheerleaders who will swear up and down that cheerleading is a sport...but only when it is competitive. I wasn't going to put all that time in just to cheer boys on all the time and not put any skin in the game myself.
Well low and behold, basketball season comes around and the poor little fifth graders don't have a cheer coach and there are 12 girls who want to cheer. This was an opportunity I couldn't say no to...dang it! I was really excited to coach the girls, I wanted them to fall in love with cheerleading as much as I had when I was a little girl. I also figured that I could be a good influence in their lives in a fun, sort of "big sister" kind of way.
Well things didn't go exactly as planned...a parent meeting that never happened led to some mad mamas. There was some bad communication, and comments made that led to hurt feelings all around. There ended up being some tension and a few weeks ago things were not fun at all.
One day I took the whole afternoon and called every single cheer mom. This was a tedious process that made me cry on more than one occasion. Many of the moms were very uplifting and supportive, but some of them gave me some tough love. This was very hard, but I hate drama and I was desperate to turn things around. The phone calls really helped because a lot of the moms gained respect for me after I took the time to talk to them one on one about their concerns. Since calling all the moms, whenever I see them I don't feel nervous at all...I can just laugh and talk to them like any other adult in town.
This weekend is cheer appreciation night at Tri Central and tonight we had our last practice of the year with all the cheer squads. The fifth graders are the youngest squad at the school. When my girls first went out, everyone was expecting them to be all little and cute (which they are), but everyone was shocked because they looked really good! They are so loud and tight, they have an awesome little routine, great stunts, and I personally think they looked better than the middle schoolers...but I might be a little biased =)
I promised Brady that I would never coach anything ever again...and I plan on keeping that promise. But I have to say, now that it is all over...I am a little sad.
Y-E-L-L EVERYBODY YELL...LETS GO TROJANS!
About a year ago I was asked if I would be interested in being the head coach for the JV cheer squad at TC. I thought and prayed about it but ultimately ended up saying no. Tri Central's cheerleaders don't compete and that is the part of cheerleading that I am obsessed with. JV cheerleading would have been a huge time committment with the football and basketball season, and without the drive of competition I just knew that my heart wouldn't be in it. I am one of the loud and proud former cheerleaders who will swear up and down that cheerleading is a sport...but only when it is competitive. I wasn't going to put all that time in just to cheer boys on all the time and not put any skin in the game myself.
Well low and behold, basketball season comes around and the poor little fifth graders don't have a cheer coach and there are 12 girls who want to cheer. This was an opportunity I couldn't say no to...dang it! I was really excited to coach the girls, I wanted them to fall in love with cheerleading as much as I had when I was a little girl. I also figured that I could be a good influence in their lives in a fun, sort of "big sister" kind of way.
Well things didn't go exactly as planned...a parent meeting that never happened led to some mad mamas. There was some bad communication, and comments made that led to hurt feelings all around. There ended up being some tension and a few weeks ago things were not fun at all.
One day I took the whole afternoon and called every single cheer mom. This was a tedious process that made me cry on more than one occasion. Many of the moms were very uplifting and supportive, but some of them gave me some tough love. This was very hard, but I hate drama and I was desperate to turn things around. The phone calls really helped because a lot of the moms gained respect for me after I took the time to talk to them one on one about their concerns. Since calling all the moms, whenever I see them I don't feel nervous at all...I can just laugh and talk to them like any other adult in town.
This weekend is cheer appreciation night at Tri Central and tonight we had our last practice of the year with all the cheer squads. The fifth graders are the youngest squad at the school. When my girls first went out, everyone was expecting them to be all little and cute (which they are), but everyone was shocked because they looked really good! They are so loud and tight, they have an awesome little routine, great stunts, and I personally think they looked better than the middle schoolers...but I might be a little biased =)
I promised Brady that I would never coach anything ever again...and I plan on keeping that promise. But I have to say, now that it is all over...I am a little sad.
Y-E-L-L EVERYBODY YELL...LETS GO TROJANS!
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