We've all seen the movies- the inescapable mix of catty girls, death defying stunts and romances with a quarter back. I have to say my experience with cheer hasn't quite been this. The girls have been amongst some of the nicest I've met, the stunts are definitely tricky but when you fall, someone (nearly) always catches you and well, there's been some mingling with the American Football lot but there's definitely no obligation to bag yourself a player!
(Sorry this isn't the best of pictures!)
As you may or may not know, cheerleading isn't a widely practiced sport in the UK. The majority of people in my squad (myself included) had never done it before and so were very excited to try it out when we realised we could take it up at university (although we all admitted the super cute uniform was what attracted us in the first place).
Most universities have a squad and compete in competitions, which is exactly what mine did this weekend. Luckily for me, my squad doesn't conduct tryouts so anyone can join but other universities however aren't always quite so nice!
Anyway, at 5am on Sunday morning we all met in our uniform and dragged ourselves onto the coach to Loughborough so we could compete at Future Cheer. We were all pretty nervous but very excited- this was the first time the sqaud had ever competed in this particular competition and for many of us, our first competition ever!
We were competing at level two, which means we could only put certain moves into our routine as befitting our standard. We had to perform twice which was exhausting and absolutely terrifying. Despite this, getting out on to the floor and cheering for a room packed with spectators and other squads was totally and utterly exhilarating.
Our hours of practice (we'd been cheering for 3 hours a day, 5 days a week over the last two weeks!) pulled off and our performance ranked 19th over all. Although not the most amazing placing ever, we were all very proud at being in the top 20 (especially since we'd been convinced we'd be last when we saw all the other much more polished squads perform!) and are already looking forwards to coming back next year!
Us about to perform!
I'd definitely recommend giving cheer a go- it's great for confidence and personally, I have met some fantastic people and have loved every minute of it!
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