Sometime before last Christmas, when Ella was grumbling about dance, she mentioned trying out for the JV Cheer Squad at her middle school. We talked about it for months, but until she made a firm decision about dance, it was hard to know if we could squeeze it all in.
Cheer Clinic and tryouts were held the week before Spring Break — this is a small blessing, since it gives kids a week off before heading back to school. As excited as you are for the girls who do well in tryouts, I can’t imagine returning to classes amidst all that excitement, if you weren’t on the squad. She worked her butt off that week and she and Molly spent hours cheering and jumping in our front yard. We had flowers delivered to school the morning of tryouts — this is apparently a huge deal — and waited impatiently for the results to be posted.
Again, to preserve the feelings of the girls, the announcement comes in the form of a list of numbers on the cheer Facebook Page. Ella had a dance class that night and we were pretty sure she would be in class when the announcements were made, so she planned to avoid her phone until I could get there to pick her up. The list ended up being posted a little early and I got to Facetime her right before she walked into class. Not only did I get to tell her that she made the squad, but she had the highest score in the JV group, making her captain. It was so funny, because one of her dance team friends shoved her out of the frame when I told her that she made captain. One of the things I love most about Ella, is that even when she excels at something, she never assumes she’s the best. Her daddy and I had a sneaking suspicion she might end up leading her squad, but that thought never dawned on her.
Back in July, she headed off to cheer camp for a week, at Great Wolf Lodge (We all want to visit for a weekend, now!). It was the first time she’s been away for an overnight camp of any kind, so I knew we would miss her like crazy. She kept us posted on how things were going, but by the end of the week, I was so ready to put my hands on her! We got to pick them up on Thursday afternoon and see them perform with their squads. It was so much fun to see all of the things they learned from the UCA staff.
Ella was one of two girls on her squad, who tried out for — and made! — the All American Squad. Of course, she wants to cheer in the Thanksgiving Day parade, but I think we’ll save that for a high school trip instead. The pin she’s holding in the photo above was for exhibiting leadership qualities (I think) and was only awarded to six cheerleaders during the camp. She got to pin it forward and choose a girl from another squad, with whom she could share the award.
My cousin Molly (who’s actually much closer to Ella’s age than mine), tried out for the varsity squad this year, so it’s been fun watching them experience these firsts together. They’ll only cheer at a game together once, since Ella’s squad will participate in the Homecoming festivities, but they’ll still be doing plenty of fun things together this year.
Ella’s squad plays most of their games on Mondays and Tuesdays, so we were excited to see them on the field for the first time this week. I use the word field loosely, since it was a muddy mess and they cheered on the sidewalk instead.
Despite ten years on the dance stage, she was a nervous wreck by game time. She was so nervous that she would mess up or do a terrible job, but they were fantastic. I sat as close to them as I could without embarrassing her and even though she asked me to take plenty of photos from her first game, she was also mortified that the football players might see her posing. Teenagers?!
I had to snap a picture of these three — my grandaddy, my daddy, and Josh — watching her cheer in the rain!
This sweet girl worked in the concession stand for most of the night, but she did come out during half-time, to watch Ella’s performance and give her a quick hug. They pretend not to like each other very much, but we all know the truth.
It’s weird, but wonderful, to be supporting her in a new endeavor this year. I never cheered in school, so I have exactly zero experience here, but I’m looking forward to figuring out this cheer mom thing. I doubt I recap every game of the season, but I’ll try to share more photos and our Homecoming experience in a few more weeks.
