Many people think cheerleading is all about big bows and sparkling glitter and high-pitched annoying voices and kicking your leg up in the air and being the most popular girl in the school. They think cheerleading is like the spirit stick from the famous movie Bring it On, worthless and stupid.

“Cheer isn’t a sport!” They say.

You better think again.

Cheerleading is all about blood, sweat, and tears. It is so arduous. I would love to see you throw a 100lb girl 20 feet in the air and catch her perfectly in your arms. Gosh, football players can’t even catch a 2 pound ball sometimes! I would love to see you flip your body over and land perfectly with the perfect technique. I would love to see you hyperextend your legs over your head. Let’s see the splits! Let’s see your toe touch! We don’t get halftime. We don’t get timeouts. We don’t get rest. We have to give everything we have in only 2 minutes and 30 seconds. No redos. No start overs. Can you start to see the pressure? Huh?
Eat. Sleep. Cheer. Repeat. That’s my life.

Imagine this with me. You have just performed your routine that you have been working on for 9 months. Hours of practice. Hours of conditioning. All for this one moment. And the routine was a complete wreck. Your teammates surround you in tears and coaches with disappointment because all of your work has gone down the drain. Sounds awesome, right?

There is no off season in Cheer. We never get a break. Practice everyday. Oh, are you tired? Suck it up. Oh, are you sore? Nobody cares. Oh, do you have a headache? You better be at practice. I swear, I am at the gym more than my own house! Practice is mandatory. If you don’t show up, looks there this is extra conditioning for you! And your whole team! Because isn’t there no I in team??

So you must be wondering, How is cheer dangerous? All you do is shout annoying cheers? Well, one study found that, “ 65.1% of catastrophic injuries for females is through the sport of cheerleading,” (National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research). So, don’t go around telling me how we are these “girly girls” who have no athletic ability. We are the most dangerous women's sport for crying out loud!

You can trust me when I say cheer is dangerous. I suffered a double concussion from cheerleading. Yup. My brain hit my skull not once, but twice in one day.

But, this sport makes it so worth it. Having those sparkling lights shine on your face full of makeup and your hair teased up over your head, is like no other feeling. It’s my favorite feeling. And I wouldn’t trade it for the world. This is my passion. This is my love. And it is so worth the broken bones and bruises and headaches and countless hours and scars.

Oh, did I mention that cheerleading is now an olympic sport? And in the dictionary the olympics are referred to a, “modern international sports competition, held once every four years.” Yes. You hear it right. A SPORTS COMPETITION. Wait, where is football in the olympics??

So, you think you’ve got what it takes to be a cheerleader? First, put the glitter and bows down. We may not be specified as athletels but that is because we are more than just athletes. We’ve got mental strength. We’ve got physical strength. And we’ve got spirit. Well, I’ve gotta go. I have to be at practice.