‘All In’ for Cheer winning Nationals

“All In” is a phrase we often say to each other. It’s on the back of one of our practice shirts, and it is something we leave practice saying every single time. Those two words have made a huge impact on my life and my approach to nearly everything. (Courtesy of Varsity Spirit)

A lot of people underestimate the hard work put into cheer. School spirit, memorization, repetition and sisterhood. Not many days go by where cheer is not apart of my life. When they tell you that cheer is a yearlong sport they mean it. 

With learning the importance of time management through the most utterly draining long practices comes unimaginable rewards such as lifelong friends and National winning titles. 

When I first joined Ballard Cheer – I mean this in the most positive way – I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I started with not many friends and I didn’t know that my life would completely change when I found them through this sport. 

You are at the airport by 4am, on a flight by 6:00. You arrive in California around 8, you go to Disneyland, team dinner, and have a late night practice. This schedule is different for every team but that was the first day for us. 

We arrived and I felt like I was on top of the world. We were told before we left and throughout the trip to “shut the door behind us”. This meant that we had to go onto that floor, compete, and give it our absolute all. I wanted to shut the door. 

As we formulate routines with three or four sections, there is plenty of repetition, cleaning, mental toughness, memorization, and dedication. “All In” is a phrase we often say to each other. It’s on the back of one of our practice shirts, and it is something we leave practice saying every single time. Those two words have made a huge impact on my life and my approach to nearly everything. 

We are all into the family that comes with it and all into anything thrown at us. People are constantly stepping up and trying things they have never done before and constantly learning and adapting to their surroundings. 

Spending time with teammates and friends at Disneyland is not an experience all people get to endure. I had been to Disneyland twice with my family, but never with friends. It was so fun getting to work hard, and have not only a first place title as a payoff, but also get to eat delicious Disneyland food and go on all the roller coasters and rides. 

Throughout the season during practice, it’s hard to keep your head up, but knowing you’ll be in sunny California at Disneyland with your friends, and potentially winning makes it all the better. You only have four years to be a high school cheerleader and you only live once, so be “All in”.

Although I’m an only child, cheer has been a place where I have found older sisters and even felt like a big sister to some. Cheer is a place where one can be loved through the best and worst moments regardless of the circumstance.

 We all hold so much genuine love for each other and cheer will never be the place where it feels like a competition to fit in.

It will always confuse me how people don’t call cheerleading a sport. While our sport wouldn’t be a thing without football, it has evolved so much and has so much more to it.