Cheerleader of the Month-May

Congrats to Kiera McKee 

Name:    Kiera McKee               Nickname:     KK                               Age:       11

Years cheering: Going into year 2

Current Team: Stingray Allstars

Favorite Competition: WORLDS

Favorite Comp food/drink: Anything Sour & Starbucks

Proudest moment in cheer: When my team won the Arnold Comp.

Favorite Team (other than yours): Senior Elite or Steel

Something you would like readers to know about you: My gym was Midwest Xplosion but we are now Stingray Allstars!

Social Media Handle for others to follow you on:  Instagram: officiallykieramckee

A Cheer Dad's Perspective-April

Reflection Time: Just a look back at a season we will remember.     

            As the season draws to an end you’ve cheered your routine for the last time. You’ve done that tumble pass for the last time. You hear that music for the last time and so it means it is some time for some reflection. Now this year it feels as if our season came to an end a lot sooner than usual. That’s because it has. There has been a lot going on in our gym. A lot of changes are happening. Some families are leaving, some families are returning, or even joining us for the first time. A lot of changes happen during the “offseason.” I put offseason in quotes because in the world of cheer there isn’t a real off season. You are still trying to perfect the things you’ve been working on all season and you are trying to level up or for some you are just trying to make the team. So the job of a cheerleader is never finished. The same can be said for the cheer parent. Your job is never done. We are still going to the gym the same amount of times a week and some weeks it’s more than that. When you think about private classes, open classes, clinics for flyers, and tumbling the season is never truly over. In the past four years I don’t believe there has been a week without going to the gym for something. That is fine, for the love of the sport I don’t mind this at all.

            I spoke about some reflection. You may ask, “Well if the season is never truly over how do you have time to reflect before moving on to the next routine, next level, next team, and next season?” It’s actually pretty easy. This season my daughter competed at level 1 Mini Prep.  My daughter’s team was made up of six girls of different experience levels. These six girls took on the world. You can tell that when they went into a competition they had a fire in their eyes. They wanted to win and they wanted to do it big. Most of the time, they did just that. They went out and placed in the top 3 of every competition they were in this year. Beating between 3-7 teams in some competitions. These girls were underrated because of the size of the team and the experience they had. My daughter was the one with the most experience on the team she’s been doing this for four years now but this was her first year at the Mini division. So they weren’t the most experienced girls but let me tell you what the lacked in experience the made up with style and confidence. This team will have at least two girls leaving this team and gym. That leaves four girls and three of the girls will unfortunately age out of the mini division. That would just leave my daughter who could compete a couple years in the mini division or she could move on to the youth division. So there is going to be a lot of change.

            It’s always interesting when you move on from something but seeing the growth of that something says a great deal about the legacy you are leaving behind. My daughter left the tiny division after her first three seasons. She could have competed at that level but it was time for her to move on. She and her teammates left a legacy for that tiny team at our gym. National Championships, Grand championships, Event championships, and many awards for choreography, stunts, and spirit. To have accomplished so much in such a young age and in such a short time is crazy. She was a national champion in her first season. That tiny team four years ago was full of new athletes similar to this mini team this year. The other similarity was the bond they shared. They were a little family inside of a bigger family. They loved each other like brother and sisters and this mini team…they were practically sisters. So naturally it is sad knowing that you are going to lose teammates. That legacy for the Tiny Team will now be carried out by some amazing athletes that love cheer and my four year old son is one of them.

            Now my son finished his first year of cheerleading. He’s had some ups and downs. They were an exhibition team this year. My son went from being kicked out of practices for playing around to actually becoming a pretty good cheerleader in his own right. His team is looking to possibly transition to a Tiny Novice team next season. He would now be in the bigger competitions like his sister next season. That is something to think about. They are going to be competing together and there is a possibility down the road where they could compete on the same team. That is awesome. I’ve written about my son in the past maybe I’ll share it here one day. As for now I will just give you a taste of my thoughts about my son cheering. LET HIM CHEER! I hate it when people say to me, “Hey why don’t you let him play a ‘real’ sport.”  Well, he is doing a real sport he’s an athlete who will be able to do whatever his heart desires. If he wants to cheer right now I am going to let him do so because he wants to do that. I refuse to force him out of or into anything he doesn’t wish to do.

             You want to be able to sit back and think about all the good and all the bad of the season. You want to be able to think about what worked and what didn’t work when it came to traveling and competitions. We had some ups and some downs. We had some issues and they were resolved. Honestly I am happy with what we have done as a gym and what the teams are doing going forward. Listen at the end of the day you can reflect as a parent as much as you want but our children will keep doing what they love and they will continue to get better and that is what’s most important to me. Getting better and they will develop bonds with new teammates and new parents and that awesome because fun, love, and belonging three of the human five basic needs (the other two is survival and power) will be met and that is important not only for their development as athletes but important for their development as humans. So reflect all you would like that’s awesome but I would say, remember it’s not about us. We aren’t the reason they are there it’s their desire.

Charles Michael

Cheerleader of the Month-April

Congrats to Emma Dill of the 

Hilltop High School Varsity Cheerleading Team

*Emma will be receiving a Cheer4Today goody box for being selected as our cheerleader of the month. If you are interested in being a cheerleader of the month and being featured on our page, please send your information to breeze_kiss@hotmail.com with the subject line "Cheerleader of the Month"

Name:    Emma Dill                                                                               Age:       18

Been Cheering: Since the 7th Grade

Current Team: Hilltop High School Varsity Cheerleader

Favorite Food at a comp or game: Popcorn

Favorite thing about cheerleading: Supporting our teams & getting our crowd super excited!

Favorite or Proudest Mom

Proudest or favorite moment in cheer: When our varsity boys won the BBC (Buckeye Border Conference)

Something you would like readers to know about you: I love being able to help someone if they need it and love to put smiles on everyone's' faces!

Social Media Handle for others to follow you on:

"Emma Jo" (Facebook)

Cheer4Today Wants You!!!

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-Cheer4Today

A Cheer Dad's Perspective-March

You Win Some and You Lose Some

            So as a cheer parent you share in your child’s success and you also share in their losses. One thing I have learned is that you are on just as much of an emotional rollercoaster as your athlete. When you child wins or loses they look to you to for approval or in some cases disapproval. Now when I say disapproval I am not saying that you disapprove of your child on when they go out and do their routine because no matter what YOU SHOULD BE PROUD! The disapproval comes in when something happens they don’t agree with and they want to see if you feel the same way. Like for instance say their team thought they hit their routine and come to find out they had a deduction. They look to you to see if you agree or disagree. Now parents we are commissioned to be fair and honest with our athletes. If I see something in the routine I will let my children know I saw something. We should be doing that as parents. We need to prepare them for what could happen. That doesn’t mean rain on their parade. It simply means you win some and you lose some.

            My daughter and our cheer gym went to a new competition a few weekends ago. We were excited about what could be possible bids to US Finals, Jackets, Medals, and Trophies. That’s fine be excited about what you could win. My daughter is young she has MANY years left to cheer she’s on a Mini Prep team. They got third place. They were heart broken. I’ve never seen six 7-8 year olds pretty much in unison cry and feel like they were wronged. Now were they actually wronged? There is a possibility. Will we be dwelling on that at home? Nope! That’s because my mother and my coaches when I played sports they all told me that you can’t win them all kid. We all know this fact. You don’t win them all but it doesn’t take the hurt away. For the first time in my daughter’s cheer career she felt she wasn’t good enough. She felt like she did her best and nothing came of it. I disagree with that completely she accomplished more than she thought or maybe still thinks. She has consistently been finishing Top 3 or Top 2 in competitions. She has won many competitions. She is a 3 time National Champion. So yeah sure maybe she thinks that when the big competitions roll around they should win because that’s what they’ve been doing! There was a point where I was calling her Big Comp Syd because when the big stage was in sight and the lights were on Syd and her teammates turned it up to a higher level. They did that here and like I told her sometimes the best lose.

            Now you win some and lose some doesn’t always apply to winning and losing competitions. It applies to losing friends and teammates as well. This has been a rough year for our gym. We have lost so many athletes for many reasons. Some athletes wanted to pursue other sports where some just didn’t want to cheer anymore. We also lost athletes to other gyms because they didn’t feel like ours was the right fit. That’s all fine. What I don’t like and I am sure no one likes is people who jump ship in the middle of a season! I never knew how cut-throat and ruthless the cheer world could be until I started getting deeper and deeper into it. I never knew it was so serious to the point that people would steal athletes mid-season from gyms. Like gyms recruit other cheerleaders off of teams during the season! That is crazy but it happens. All you can do is make adjustments and move on. That’s what we have been doing adjusting and moving on and we have been fine. It’s just hard to explain to my daughter why her friends are leaving and going other places.

            Sometimes parents get in the way of friendships in this sport. This is my honest opinion. We make decisions based on us and not on our children sometimes. Most of the time when athletes switch gyms it’s not because the kid wanted to go it’s because adults had a disagreement and decided to leave. We sometimes hurt our own kids because we are selfish. We as parents have to stop letting our feelings get in the way of what our kids want. Most of the departures we had this season could have been solved by adults removing themselves from the equation and putting the children first. We have to remember that we are not the ones winning championships we are not the ones that are in the gym working hard to perfect a routine. We are there for support and many parents have lost sight of the fact. We need to get back to being a support system and stop posting on social media trying to subliminally one up each other! Sometimes our children are more mature than us. Honestly they at times have a better grasp of “you win some, and you lose some” than us as parents.

Charles Michael

A Cheer Dad's Perspective

                                       
                       Welcome the newest contributor to Cheer4Today...

Charles Michael

Cheerleader of the Month-March

Congrats to 

Aniya Bode of The Stingray Allstars-Peppermint

&

 Kaylee Greenlaw of The Bellmawr Purple Eagles

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Name:  Aniya Rose Bode                Nickname:      Aniya                           Age:  7     

Years cheering:2

Current Team: Stingray Allstars-Peppermint

Favorite Competition: UCA

Proudest moment in cheer: At the end of the routine when you know your team just hit!

Favorite Team (other than yours): The Stingray Allstars-Steel

Something you would like readers to know about you: My next favorite thing other than cheer are my 2 dogs!

Favorite competition food or drink: Dippin Dots

Social Media Handle for others to follow you on:  Aniya.Rose (Instagram)

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Name:  Kaylee Ann Greenlaw       Nickname:        Kay                      Age:    8  

Years cheering: 4 years

Current Team: Bellmawr Purple Eagles -Mini 2

Favorite Competition: Us Finals Virginia Beach

Proudest moment in cheer: Getting the championship jacket at Us Finals!

Favorite Team (other than yours): Bellmawr Purple Eagles- Junior 3

Something you would like readers to know about you: I love to cheer and tumble!

Favorite competitons food/drink: Pizza and Iced Tea

Social Media Handle for others to follow you on:  Kaylee_BPE (Instagram)