Best Day Ever

Stereotypes Have Never Been More Wrong

Most people believe that cheerleaders are stuck-up popular girls that have no idea what hard work really is. Some agree that competitive cheerleading is a sport but in high school it is just a club or an organization. My hope is that this story changes that view and proves it totally wrong.

It is a hard life, to be a mat. No one understands the abuse that we go through with these girls. Every day I see them working hard and putting 110% into every practice. They work so hard that in a few years my fellow mats and I will be worn out and they will have to replace us with younger, more resilient mats. However, I would not trade my life for anything in the world. I love being what I am and watching these girls do what they do.

The competition this year was on March 5, 2011. The girls are ready and here early this morning to set us mats out in the gym and tape us down. I can tell that their spirits are high and that they are jittery and nervous, yet still excited and ready to go. As they work I hear them talking about when the other teams will arrive. It seems that the elementary and junior high girls will be arriving very soon. The varsity cheerleaders will arrive around noon. Just before the younger girls compete. Apparently, they will be taking school buses to get here. From what I have heard in my years here that is an awful fate. The students say that school buses are uncomfortable. Well I do not know about that, but it seems to be just about the only way to get here. As far as I can tell there will be three schools competing at the elementary level, two for junior high, and five for varsity. I have never been used in a competition before and this is a very big day for me.

After the two younger divisions run through their routines and get their practice time in it is finally time for them to give it their all. As the first group runs onto us I can feel the excitement in every step they take. The girls get into position and start with their cheer. When the music starts I can feel the adrenaline running through their bodies in every move they make. Watching and feeling the older cheerleaders practice has nothing on this feeling. The emotions of the girls and the thought that this is the time that they have to give their all and put everything on the line is palpable in the air. All too soon, it is over. They hit their final pose and the crowd roars in response to the culmination of their hard work and dedication.

The rest of the routines start to blur together for me. After all the schools have competed they have the jump competition while the judges are deliberating. Finally, they sit down in their groups to await the results. The older girls sit around them and lend their unwavering support and love. That feeling alone is like nothing I have ever felt before in my entire existence. It is like the kind of immovable love and affection that one would expect between a mother and her child. The younger girls are elated when they hear the results. Even the schools that did not win first place are happy and enchanted by their whole experience of this day.

Soon everyone leaves and my fellow mats and I are left alone in the gym. I heard that each school as one more run through before the main event: the varsity competition. I am barely conscious of these practices because I am eager and emotional waiting for the moment when my girls will compete. Finally it is time. "And now, give it up for your own, Southern Fulton Indians!" This is it. I finally get to see my girls do what they have been training all year for. The energies run high in these girls as they work the crowd up while they make their way onto the floor. The audience waits, not daring to breathe, for the music to start. The room is painstakingly quiet. I can hear the shallow, bated breath of every member of the audience. The music starts and just like I have watched them practice they spring into action all at once. They move across the floor with the precision and commitment to every move of a team that has been doing this their entire lives. In every square inch of my body I can feel them move and devote to every move as if it was their last. That feeling is euphoric. I can tell that they are not thinking about anything at all. They move as though they are on autopilot. Everything is natural and second-nature to them. My favorite part is what are called the stunts. They lift each other into the air and do crazy, gravity-defying things. My girls are all average sized, yet somehow they have the strength of someone a hundred times their size. Here comes the basket toss. This is the best stunt out of them all. I know that it is a favorite of the girls and it has become my favorite as well. It is the most enchanting sight that I have ever seen. Four girls that seem to have nothing special about them throw a fellow team mate 20 feet into the air and then catch them without hesitation or a second thought about their own safety.

Before I know it, the music stops and it is all over. That was one of the most uplifting and heavenly experiences of my life. The girls struggle to catch their breath and I see a grin break out across every single one of their faces. There will never be another experience in my life that will ever come close to matching the memory of my girls competing. Their flawless routine brings the fans to their feet with cries of joy and undeniable excitement. They make their way off the mats and sit.

Finally, it is time for the results. Each team sits in a circle on us and lends unspoken support as they anxiously await the verdict. My girls are all sitting closely together and I welcome the love and strength that channels through them and seeps into me. As the emcee announces second place everyone holds their breath. It isn't them. That can only mean one thing. "And in first place, give it up for our own Southern Fulton Indians!" I have never felt a feeling like this before. There are not words to describe it. My girls have been working towards this moment for as long as I have known them. Everyone else is wrong. This is why these girls do what they do. This is why I love my life. They worked harder than I have ever seen someone work to get to this point and it has finally paid off.

In the back of my mind I know that winning is not everything to them and that it is just a physical representation of their hard work and dedication to doing what they live for. It feels so good though. Being the best and winning are amazing things; but it is not everything in life. Sometimes it is just about doing what you love with people you love. When I reflect back on that day I know that, in their hearts, they would have been just as happy and just as satisfied if they had not won. They put their hearts and souls into that performance, and they left 110% out on that floor. That is all anyone can ever do.