High School am i just not "cut out" for cheerleading?

[loreleivcheers]

hi, i used to cheer for 3 years at my small k-8 private school, and i really liked it. it was small budget and a small team, no-tryout. when i switched to public for middle school, i wasn't that interested in cheer.

i quickly found out how complicated tryouts were, and i bailed on trying out for my 8th grade year. i also felt very out of place. the out of place feeling contributes a lot to my feeling of not being cut out for cheer.

just so everyone knows, i am very very different from most of the cheerleaders. i do not have any cheerleader friends. i'm a lesbian, and gay people tend to form groups with other gay people. which means band kids, guard girls, generally not cheerleaders. i'm also probably autistic, but we'll get to that.

when i was going to be an incoming freshman, i locked in. i finally tried out, and took it very seriously. i am not athletic. my jumps are mediocre, and i'm barely a level 1 tumbler. nobody in my family is athletic, so my parents had no experience with this. (i'm an only child). i heard they had spots for everyone on the freshman team, so i was excited. i was the only one who got cut.

i was devastated. shortly after this, i developed a special interest for cheer that has lasted my freshman year. i did my midterm presentation on the importance of cheer. i became obsessed with allstar. i started practicing tumbling (i haven't improved yet).

i would go to pep rallies and sendoffs and games just to watch the cheerleaders. i would daydream about cheerleading. i started practicing early. today was tryout for my sophomore year, and i got cut. again. i'm just miserable. i don't know how to handle another year in the stands.

i know this is irrational, but i sometimes think they cut me becuase i'm gay and weird and different and not the typical cheer archetype. i have no friends on the team and some of them think i'm a freak. i just want them to see past that. i love cheer more than half of the girls on the team, and it makes me angry sometimes.

my mom is saying that i might just not be cut out for sports. i'm still going to try next year, but i don't know. i just want to do it so bad.

 

[catlady]

Unfortunately, noone on the boards is going to be able to give you a definitive answer as to why you were cut. You can, however, go to the coach and ask what you can work on for next years tryouts. Ask if practices are closed or if you would be allowed to observe practices to learn cheers. There are YouTubes which have conditioning tips and drills for jumps and tumbling. A good tumble coach can help with progression, but tumbling is a slow process.

Lastly, High School typically is not the most inclusive space, and it can be extremely hard to break barriers and make friends outside of your normal friend group, sport, or organization. As for the cheerleaders who think you're "weird," in High School that just translates into, you are an individual. Work on your jumps and tumble skills, and if possible, I suggest looking into AS gym options. Most are very inclusive and often provide options for different budgets.

 

[aya!!!]

by " I became obsessed with all-star" does that mean you started doing all-star? If so, I recommend doing privates if you can afford it and, from experience at my high school (in Texas) the judges only really pay attention to your spirit, memorization, appearance (if you look like you don't care about making the teams (messy hair, wrong outfit, etc..)) and dedication- not as much skill. But still taking privates would help a lot! Also, if you can afford it, i highly recommend taking a cheer fitness class too.