- Jul 12, 2013
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High School Confessions Of A High School Cheerleader
- Thread starter Sophie
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- May 27, 2013
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As a senior, this even makes ME sad! I know that it can get old to have to do the same tradition every Friday over 2,3, even 4 years. But this is the only time in your life that you get to do this; enjoy ever last bit! In the future, you can't just show up to work in your cheer uniform if you're feeling nostalgic.
- Oct 6, 2012
- 1,388
- 3,283
Brace yourselves ladies..this is going to be one big of a confession. It's a wrap up of my entire season of football cheer, and the reason why cheerleader was basically ruined for me. I should start of by saying that a few of my friends remain on the squad to this day, and I don't hate them for anything that happened. I figured this was appropriate for a confession thread because..well..there really wasn't any other place for it, and I haven't told this story to anyone but my mom so..I figured it was a confession of my experience to the outside world. This is still difficult for me to talk about, the wound is still a little fresh, but bare with me. I was just hoping to get the story out there, and get some opinions.
I tried out for cheerleading in April of my sophomore year, with my best friend encouraging me and a veteran on the squad I was feeling pretty confident. I was obviously one of the worst, never having cheered before I didn't expect to make it honestly but this was right around when I started following allstar cheerleading and fell in love. My area isn't big on allstar, the closet gym is about an hour away and I had absolutely no tumbling skills. To my surprise, my coach had told me she saw potential in me and accepted me onto the squad. I was beaming for the next few days, I had already started stretching to better my jumps. Practice didn't start until August, but I was so excited. Fast forward from April to July, when I had my first cardiology appointment since a hospital stay in February when they found I had a slow/irregular heartbeat. Because of my heart, I dizzy easily and pass out. Long story short, I had more then a slow and irregular heart beat. To save some confusion and googling, I basically was born with a hole in my heart which closed by skin suctioning in onto it, giving it a chance to easily leak. This means no lifting weights, no push ups, no carrying any heavy boxes, and slight circulation problems. You might be able to see where that might be a problem in cheerleading.
Our first practice comes along and I had my coach my doctor's note, and she assured me that I would be treated equally and that I would probably be able to fly. Boy, I wish I knew then what I knew now. As practices come and go, I noticed girls giving me glares because I didn't have to condition as hard as them and because I got more frequent water breaks. When it came time to make up stunt groups, I wasn't given a position to fly; I was given a seat on the bench. I felt so isolated from a group that I was already barely bonding with, I remember running to my mom's car after practice and crying. As a junior, I never thought I would go crying to my mom. Our first game comes around and it just gets worse, our school has a tradition where the cheerleaders do pushups after every touchdown. For the first touchdown I tried to be completely natural, I stayed in a plank position while the other girls did their seven pushups. Afterwards, the coach motioned me over and told me I had looked stupid planking. I was then instructed to, as quickly as I could, climb over the rope that roped off our section, run across the track lane, and stand quickly in front of the bleachers. I again felt isolated..but this time, I couldn't help but feel humiliated. I even had the band instructor come up to me and jokingly say " Oh what, you don't do pushups? "
A few more incidents happened; I was constantly blamed by teammates for messing up dance counts and thus messing them up, even though I was not one of the front rows, my coach started to belittle me and tell me ' I knew what I was signing up for ' when I would ask for breaks, I was benched for having to miss a game for passing out before I'd left my house, and some drama on the facebook group because somebody decided to take my headband/bow. It got to the point where I had to have my mom talk to the coach, where the coach immediately told my mom I had an attitude problem and was acting hostile towards the girls. As sick as my mom was of listening to my coach tell her that basically it wasn't her problem, she encouraged me to stick out the season and show everyone they weren't going to bring me down. Fast forward to the last game of the season, it was snowing and colder than ever, but even with the circulation problems I was determined to finish the regular season at least. So there I went with a pair of leggings, both warm up pants, a crewneck, both warm up jackets, two pairs of gloves/socks and one of those ski ear wraps. I thought I was prepared, but I didn't anticipate the temperature drop and the wind. By the third quarter I was silently crying to myself, my toes felt like they had frostbite and I felt dizzy. I was told to " Suck it up " by the team captain, and that " Everybody else is cold, you don't see them crying, ". This girl was made fully aware of my condition at the start of the season, being the captain, and was now telling me to shut up. I was told by the coaches that if there was ever an issue, I would be able to sit out no problem. Fourth quarter I ran to the concession stand, downed two clam chowders and brought a hot chocolate with me back to my seat. Now that I didn't have to be in ' uniform ' with the other girls, I threw on my heavy winter coat. I was sitting next to the coaches and both asked me why I even came if it was going to be an issue, and that I should have just stayed out there for another quarter. At this point we made the playoffs but my mind was set, I was done with feeling like crap doing something that I was in love with. I asked my mom to inquire about tumbling classes at the local gymnastics place, I wanted to get away from the people who ruined my experience and move on. I had already had a good amount of leg muscle from years of club soccer, but failed to think through the arm muscle part. Needless to say, after attending the free trial class and being told I needed a doctors note, my cardiologist didn't approve. But hey, I discovered I have one hell of a front roll.
I was ready to put this all behind me, I lasted the regular season and only stopped when it was hurting my health, and since I was on the varisty squad in my school the policy was that I get a varsity letter. When they sent out letters to people on varsity teams and I didn't get one, I went to the office and asked if I was on any kind of list. My coach had left me off the cheerleading list. At this point, I was fed up with my coaches and wanted to head straight to the source; the athletic director. For some reason, I thought that would help things. Unfortunately, the second the office sent and email to the coaches was when my coaches sent the athletic director an email. Upon sitting down for a meeting, I was told that I was lazy, purposely missed practices, events and games, quit the squad for no reason, and didn't meet the criteria of a varsity athlete. I remember almost crying in front of him and it was her word against mine, like in most school systems, he sided with her. I could see this as soon as he asked why I thought I deserved it, and when he took it a step farther. In the winter we had a girl from the special needs class on the basketball squad, she sat on the bench all of the games but according to him ' that's all she could do'. I was compared to her, saying that even though this girl ' couldn't do anything ' she was still at every game with a smile on her face. I explained to him my heart condition and the effects it had on me, that I was completely unconscious when the coach claimed I purposely missed, and often times got nausea after coming to, but he repeated over and over that even though she 'couldn't do anything ' she was always in attendance and smiling. Again, he decided to humor me and tell me he'd speak with the coach and get back to me. He never did. I saw him in the hallways the last week of school where he said he would call me down, and never did.
This was a huge confession and kind of different than all the other ones posted here, but I guess the moral of the confession is..I hope that if this happens to you, or you are being treated unfairly by a coach/teammate/etc, that you speak up for yourself. I probably could have fought this with the school system, but chose not to. I'm ready to move on, and I am perfectly happy watching all the major competition livestreams and chatting about them on Fierceboard. Fierceboard makes me feel accepted, and I love coming on to a place where I know I won't be judged for not cheering and having a love for allstar. Hey, my mom even started dating a guy whose daughter does allstar..maybe everything happens for a reason and this is life's way of saying ' We're going to keep cheerleading in your life'. Seriously, if you the the time to read this..you deserve all the shimmies. I'm not asking for sympathy, the situation is over and done with and I've moved on with my life. I'm going to be a senior, and happy I have a new school year to move onto. Just curious on what your opinions are and what you would have done differently?
I tried out for cheerleading in April of my sophomore year, with my best friend encouraging me and a veteran on the squad I was feeling pretty confident. I was obviously one of the worst, never having cheered before I didn't expect to make it honestly but this was right around when I started following allstar cheerleading and fell in love. My area isn't big on allstar, the closet gym is about an hour away and I had absolutely no tumbling skills. To my surprise, my coach had told me she saw potential in me and accepted me onto the squad. I was beaming for the next few days, I had already started stretching to better my jumps. Practice didn't start until August, but I was so excited. Fast forward from April to July, when I had my first cardiology appointment since a hospital stay in February when they found I had a slow/irregular heartbeat. Because of my heart, I dizzy easily and pass out. Long story short, I had more then a slow and irregular heart beat. To save some confusion and googling, I basically was born with a hole in my heart which closed by skin suctioning in onto it, giving it a chance to easily leak. This means no lifting weights, no push ups, no carrying any heavy boxes, and slight circulation problems. You might be able to see where that might be a problem in cheerleading.
Our first practice comes along and I had my coach my doctor's note, and she assured me that I would be treated equally and that I would probably be able to fly. Boy, I wish I knew then what I knew now. As practices come and go, I noticed girls giving me glares because I didn't have to condition as hard as them and because I got more frequent water breaks. When it came time to make up stunt groups, I wasn't given a position to fly; I was given a seat on the bench. I felt so isolated from a group that I was already barely bonding with, I remember running to my mom's car after practice and crying. As a junior, I never thought I would go crying to my mom. Our first game comes around and it just gets worse, our school has a tradition where the cheerleaders do pushups after every touchdown. For the first touchdown I tried to be completely natural, I stayed in a plank position while the other girls did their seven pushups. Afterwards, the coach motioned me over and told me I had looked stupid planking. I was then instructed to, as quickly as I could, climb over the rope that roped off our section, run across the track lane, and stand quickly in front of the bleachers. I again felt isolated..but this time, I couldn't help but feel humiliated. I even had the band instructor come up to me and jokingly say " Oh what, you don't do pushups? "
A few more incidents happened; I was constantly blamed by teammates for messing up dance counts and thus messing them up, even though I was not one of the front rows, my coach started to belittle me and tell me ' I knew what I was signing up for ' when I would ask for breaks, I was benched for having to miss a game for passing out before I'd left my house, and some drama on the facebook group because somebody decided to take my headband/bow. It got to the point where I had to have my mom talk to the coach, where the coach immediately told my mom I had an attitude problem and was acting hostile towards the girls. As sick as my mom was of listening to my coach tell her that basically it wasn't her problem, she encouraged me to stick out the season and show everyone they weren't going to bring me down. Fast forward to the last game of the season, it was snowing and colder than ever, but even with the circulation problems I was determined to finish the regular season at least. So there I went with a pair of leggings, both warm up pants, a crewneck, both warm up jackets, two pairs of gloves/socks and one of those ski ear wraps. I thought I was prepared, but I didn't anticipate the temperature drop and the wind. By the third quarter I was silently crying to myself, my toes felt like they had frostbite and I felt dizzy. I was told to " Suck it up " by the team captain, and that " Everybody else is cold, you don't see them crying, ". This girl was made fully aware of my condition at the start of the season, being the captain, and was now telling me to shut up. I was told by the coaches that if there was ever an issue, I would be able to sit out no problem. Fourth quarter I ran to the concession stand, downed two clam chowders and brought a hot chocolate with me back to my seat. Now that I didn't have to be in ' uniform ' with the other girls, I threw on my heavy winter coat. I was sitting next to the coaches and both asked me why I even came if it was going to be an issue, and that I should have just stayed out there for another quarter. At this point we made the playoffs but my mind was set, I was done with feeling like crap doing something that I was in love with. I asked my mom to inquire about tumbling classes at the local gymnastics place, I wanted to get away from the people who ruined my experience and move on. I had already had a good amount of leg muscle from years of club soccer, but failed to think through the arm muscle part. Needless to say, after attending the free trial class and being told I needed a doctors note, my cardiologist didn't approve. But hey, I discovered I have one hell of a front roll.
I was ready to put this all behind me, I lasted the regular season and only stopped when it was hurting my health, and since I was on the varisty squad in my school the policy was that I get a varsity letter. When they sent out letters to people on varsity teams and I didn't get one, I went to the office and asked if I was on any kind of list. My coach had left me off the cheerleading list. At this point, I was fed up with my coaches and wanted to head straight to the source; the athletic director. For some reason, I thought that would help things. Unfortunately, the second the office sent and email to the coaches was when my coaches sent the athletic director an email. Upon sitting down for a meeting, I was told that I was lazy, purposely missed practices, events and games, quit the squad for no reason, and didn't meet the criteria of a varsity athlete. I remember almost crying in front of him and it was her word against mine, like in most school systems, he sided with her. I could see this as soon as he asked why I thought I deserved it, and when he took it a step farther. In the winter we had a girl from the special needs class on the basketball squad, she sat on the bench all of the games but according to him ' that's all she could do'. I was compared to her, saying that even though this girl ' couldn't do anything ' she was still at every game with a smile on her face. I explained to him my heart condition and the effects it had on me, that I was completely unconscious when the coach claimed I purposely missed, and often times got nausea after coming to, but he repeated over and over that even though she 'couldn't do anything ' she was always in attendance and smiling. Again, he decided to humor me and tell me he'd speak with the coach and get back to me. He never did. I saw him in the hallways the last week of school where he said he would call me down, and never did.
This was a huge confession and kind of different than all the other ones posted here, but I guess the moral of the confession is..I hope that if this happens to you, or you are being treated unfairly by a coach/teammate/etc, that you speak up for yourself. I probably could have fought this with the school system, but chose not to. I'm ready to move on, and I am perfectly happy watching all the major competition livestreams and chatting about them on Fierceboard. Fierceboard makes me feel accepted, and I love coming on to a place where I know I won't be judged for not cheering and having a love for allstar. Hey, my mom even started dating a guy whose daughter does allstar..maybe everything happens for a reason and this is life's way of saying ' We're going to keep cheerleading in your life'. Seriously, if you the the time to read this..you deserve all the shimmies. I'm not asking for sympathy, the situation is over and done with and I've moved on with my life. I'm going to be a senior, and happy I have a new school year to move onto. Just curious on what your opinions are and what you would have done differently?
gymcatmomx2
Cheer Parent
- Jan 14, 2011
- 504
- 874
@ShannonKe I am so sorry that your high school cheer experience was so awful! My oldest CP had a set of twins on her 8th grade cheer squad but when it came time to tryout for the Freshman squad, one of the twins didn't pass the physical for the same condition that you have. Her doctor told her under no conditions would he release her for an activity as vigorous as cheer. You are very fortunate that you were able to even tryout. I hope that you were able to experience some joy while being on the squad. At least now you can say you know what it's like to be a cheerleader!
- Oct 6, 2012
- 1,388
- 3,283
I did enjoy being on a team, and feeling like a member to some extent. Sports for the most part are a no go for me, but let me tell you all the bad feelings went away whenever I would perform a cheer or dance. It didn't matter how upset I was before or after a game, the in between was the best part.
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BuegeSmalls
Uni designer and state IDer-Most positive shimmies
- May 21, 2011
- 7,232
- 15,946
I hated when people complain, like where is your school spirit? I loved wearing my uniform to school. It made me feel special and I didn't have to worry about finding an outfit for the day!
- Mar 18, 2012
- 5,405
- 10,656
No seriously like when the season is over I'm just like "WAIT... I have to find FIVE outfits?" it's rough... During basketball season we only need like 2 or 3 real outfits during the week, and for football we only need 4, but once its all over I'm always like "wow I need more clothes because I don't have enough acceptable outfits"
BuegeSmalls
Uni designer and state IDer-Most positive shimmies
- May 21, 2011
- 7,232
- 15,946
Lol same! And people always wanted to dress up and I was like how about no because then I still have to find an outfit to wear. How about we stick to uniforms and team shirts...
- Mar 25, 2013
- 83
- 39
1.) favoritism towards seniors and the girls who are up the coaches butts 24/7. I'm not gonna kiss your butt and be your BFF just so I can have a spot up front. I have dignity.
2.) when someone asks what a prep is.
3.) when seniors act like they know it all
4.) when someone on jv won't take your advice. I'm not trying to criticize you, I'm trying to help you.
5.) the words "I can't"
6.) skipping/being late to practice
7.) when everyone has different hair and different makeup at games or comp
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2.) when someone asks what a prep is.
3.) when seniors act like they know it all
4.) when someone on jv won't take your advice. I'm not trying to criticize you, I'm trying to help you.
5.) the words "I can't"
6.) skipping/being late to practice
7.) when everyone has different hair and different makeup at games or comp
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- Jul 9, 2012
- 209
- 110
White uniforms. They look good if they're new, but in my case the uniforms get passed down from varsity to JV to freshman and stay in each for 2 years so last year I got a 6 year old 'white uniform' that was tinted yellow and girls had like just random stains on there's. they looked horrible.
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- Jul 12, 2013
- 19
- 9
When the girls on my squad make me feel like I'm to big to fly. Like why are you tearing me down? Because you wanna fly? Well just because I'm toned doesn't mean I'm some kinda she-man, and it doesn't mean I can lift you. Seriously, wait to give me self esteem issues!
Lol sorry for the rant.
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Lol sorry for the rant.
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- Jul 9, 2012
- 209
- 110
we have 3 abnormally small girls for their age who are flyers on my team, (like 80 pounds) and then we have another normal sized flyer and shes considered SMALL for her age, She's maybe 101 lb, and shes taller than me, she's about 5'5". There's a stunt group that flew the taller flyer last year, that group is all really tall. But this year we were doing stunts and she assumed they'd be in the same group just because it makes sense, and the said "we aren't flying you this year. We want to fly (smaller girl). Shes easier to lift". Like oh my god?! How rude can they be. And to make matters worse, this girl is already SO insecure about her weight. She constantly feels insuperior to all the other flyers just because of her weight. This group she used to stunt with are all her bestfriends too. The flyer came to me and told me and she was crying and I told her, while you may be bigger than them, you can't help it. It's just because they're 4'9" and you're 5'5". and you know what, you're just as good as a flyer. Maybe you're not 80 lb, but since youre not, you learned good technique. YOu know how to lock out your knee, keep your core tight, etc. (IMO she feels the exact same when stunting compared to the fetus flyers because she knows technique, the smaller girls let the bases do everything.) I just felt so bad for her, because as a team that's not acceptable. Heck, i dont think saying that kind of stuff is ever acceptable; especially to your very insecure 'friend'. Sorry for the long message, but you shouldn't feel self conscious. At least you know good technique for flying! Don't let them bring you down. Girls can be real mean sometimes.
- Jul 12, 2013
- 19
- 9
Thanks! This means a lot!we have the same on our team. Our "main" flyer is 4'9 100 pounds and a jr. I'm a sophomore 115 and 5'3 and I'm flexible and can pull different body positions and our main flyer can't but she's just so small it's everyone likes to base her, and I'm over here like "..." I want the girls to want to base me like they do her
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- Jul 9, 2012
- 209
- 110
Same situation! Trust me, from a base/back perspective who has done competitive cheer for years, girls like you and the girl i was talking about are much more fun to fly. Who likes to do just a lib? I want to see body positions being pulled but those tiny girls cant even pull a heelstretch.
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