Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Cheerleading

Last month, I posted about being a cheerleader. I got a ton and a half of e-mails about it. Unfortunately, I can't find any of the pictures. I have a feeling they're at my parents house. I did find a VHS of us at our State Competition. And I found my uniforms. But no pictures.

So here are a few things that we used to do. Because lots of you are curious. Let me start off with saying, we had a Texas coach. She had been a Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader. And she was as mean as nails. Now, I respect that. Then, I used to just pray for practice to end...



That's a toe touch. We'd do countless in a day. We'd practice them all the time. And we'd continue to practice until they were perfect. She'd stretch us out, just so our toe touches would be perfect. There were days that I could barely walk because of that. But it's what came with the territory. And at games, every time our team scored, we had to do a toe touch. They had to be perfect!



Right there, that's a heel stretch. You grab your foot in the middle, from the outside. And then you pull up your leg. Your leg is at your side, slightly in front of your body. Your knee is facing up and back. Again, lots of stretching goes into this.



This is a scale. Ideally, you're supposed to make a "U" or "V" shape with you right arm and left leg. Your bottom (right) leg is pointed to the right, your upper body to the front, and your left leg us up. Knee pointed forward. Again, ideally, your leg just stays up. You don't use your arm for support. Just balance.



The next move is a bow and arrow. This is like a more advanced heel stretch. Instead of your knee pointed up and back, it is now pointed towards your body. And you hold it with the opposite hand. Again, ideally, you want your leg and body to be parallel.



And last but not least, this is a scorpion. Ideally, the knee shouldn't be bent. You should be holding on with 1 hand. And your body should make a "tear drop" shape. This takes lots of back flexibility.

These are just some of the moves we'd do. We did lots of things. Like basket tosses. Were you would through a girl up in the air, and she'd do a trick. Like a toe touch and a twist. And you'd catch her on the way down. We did many, many cheers, dances, and even tumbling. Like in gymnastics.

In lots of ways, these were the best and worst years of my life. But I wouldn't give them up for anything! I learned many life long lessons. And will have some of the most amazing friends for life! Because you don't go to camp in the desert (where I now live) and sweat off your behind, without becoming friends. Let's not even talk about cheer in a blizzard, in the City Different. It was so cold!

It was more than just pep rallies, football games, and competitions. We really did become close. We learned many life lessons. And traveled a lot! From the City Different to Orlando. And everywhere in between. There's a heck of a lot more to a cheerleader than the short skirts and pom poms! ♥Besitos

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