What my 12 year old is learning from cheerleading

It was springtime, and my then 11-year-old told me she wanted to do two cheer teams at the same time. She wanted to continue with the cheer team she has been on for the last couple of years, and she also wanted to join her school cheer team. I told her I would think about it as this was a big commitment for me too.

A month went by, and Lillie once again told me that she really wanted to do both cheer teams. With a knot in my stomach and a lot of hesitation, I signed her up for both teams. I was nervous and I didn’t know how this was going to pan out, but I was willing to try it for Lillie.

August rolls around, and my stomach is in knots about school. When I thought about school, I thought about rushing around after school and it made me nervous. “What about homework and studying?” I said to my husband as I worried some more.

I held my breath as I looked at the schedules of the two cheer teams. Both teams had told Lillie and her teams how important attendance is. Both teams had emphasized how important it was to be at every practice. Cheerleading is a unique sport in that you need all the team players to practice your routine. If someone is missing, it throws off practicing stunts and routines to the fullest. If someone from a stunt is missing the whole group can’t practice.