Competition cheer is more than just putting someone in the air and screaming words you were taught to say. Competition Cheer takes hard work, dedication, and  passion. A quote I think of when competition cheer comes to mind is “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” I say that as you never know what that team may have been through prior to this specific competition.

In our case, we had just lost our main flyer and quickly had to recover! We then had to replace her with a flyer that’s never been taught to properly fly, which was a challenge within itself outside of still having to teach her the whole routine top to bottom. This was a challenge that was both unexpected, difficult, and saddening. We had 2 weeks to get this done – practices day in and day out never giving up.

Soon came our first competition at Wilmington High School. I’ve done PLENTY competitions before this, but this was different. I felt so anxious, nervous, felt like I was gonna throw up, use the bathroom, all of the above in the book basically, but when I hit the mat everything leaves my mind; I don’t hear the crowd, anything around me, just my counts and my stunt group. My part in the routine is the only thing I think about at that moment.

Cheer is a sport that comes with a lot of different ups and downs just as life does and always will. This is a lesson I’ve learned over the years as well as never give up no matter how hard the battle may be! You’re gonna get hurt, you’re gonna feel unmotivated at times, you’re gonna be tired, you’re gonna be overwhelmed, and stressed out wanting to quit. It’s not easy to balance your everyday life, school and keeping up with your grades , work, still game day normal cheer, all while still finding time for sleep, as well as what you enjoy doing in life. This isn’t a sport for the weak! This is an ALL-IN SPORT. You’re either in or out no inbetween as competition cheer is a very time consuming thing.

In the end, it’s the feeling you get when you step on that mat, start your routine, hit every jump, tumble, motion, stunt, and facial – the compliment’s you get after it’s all done. It’s when it all comes together and worth looking at. It’s when you see the work you put in over all these months worked out how it should’ve. How god planned it to work out! When your school name is called because you finally met one of your goals as a team which we did by placing 3rd at conference this year!!!!

This season has taken me on the biggest roller coaster cheer has ever taken me on emotionally, physically and mentally. I’m glad that I can say me and my team made it through and fought hard, tried our best and left it all on the mat down to our very last competition together.

I love them dearly and I’ll never ever forget the Hillcrest High School Competition Team of the 2024-2025 season.

I wish them the best of luck next year!!!!