The diary of a reluctant cheerdancer

I’ve always admired cheerleaders. Whether you see them on TV, in the movies or in the hallways of your school, they always have a certain aura around them. When people hear the term "cheerleader," they usually think only of the status that comes with being one. In movies, isn’t the most popular girl a cheerleader? Aren’t the rest of the girls dying to be part of the cheering squad? (Unless the movie’s like She’s All That or Ten Things I Hate About You, where the lead character is a rebel spirit.) Cheerleaders have always been connected with being popular and beautiful. That’s not the reason why the whole world grins back when they smile. When cheerleaders yell, everyone shrieks in reply. When they dance, the crowd moves along. It’s not just about being popular and beautiful. It’s not the short skirts either. It’s about pure talent. It’s about spirit.

Okay, so maybe some guys watch cheering competitions to look for good-looking girls with nice legs, but when you watch the competitions, you’ll really see how talented and creative cheerdancers can be. I was in grade school when I first watched a cheering competition. It was in our school, and even though I was watching grade school cheerdancers, I was really amazed at how cool it was.

I was even more speechless when I got to watch the high school cheering competition. The girls seemed older, more confident and so good at what they were doing! When the music started, they put on fabulous smiles, clutched their pompoms in their hands and started to dance. As the crowd cheered for them, all of them would be in a blur of color as they executed their steps with vigor. It was incredible. Everyone watching couldn’t help but cheer as well.

The following year, our batch was finally part of the grade school cheering competition, and a lot of plans were made for the big day. I was very excited, but even with all my enthusiasm for the event I wasn’t a cheerdancer. I had no intentions of being one! I just decided to be part of the pep squad, the bunch who would lead the batch in the cheers and everything. I didn’t have the body for cheering but I had the loud voice!

Unfortunately, our batch didn’t win that year but I still had fun. Even when the grade school didn’t have a cheering competition the following year, my friends and I were there to watch the high school competition. Again, just watching the teams compete was exhilarating. There were pyramids, shrieks, cheers, dance steps, drum beats, tears and everything.

I was always supportive of our batch in cheering competitions. I would always scream my lungs out for our cheerdancers until my throat was hoarse. Two years ago, I even joined the band playing for the squad. (Unfortunately, I was a lousy organ player.) It never occurred to me to be a cheerdancer. Sometimes, my friends would kid me, "You know, you should be a cheerdancer!" because I often have unbridled energy, but nobody ever took it seriously. Of course, sometimes I would wonder what I would be like to be one, but the thought never remained in my head.

About a month ago, though, things changed. I was asked to join the cheering squad for our batch. The world stopped revolving for about two seconds, then I started laughing. I had never pictured myself as a cheerdancer before, and suddenly I had the chance to be one!

I put a lot of thought into it before I said yes. The cheering competition was fast

approaching and the squad wasn’t complete yet. I decided that it was the last and probably the only chance I’d ever get of seeing how cheering really is. So even though I felt really weird, I agreed.

I know that cheering may seem like a simple sport, but it’s very tough. I’ve seen the bruises my friends got from cheering. One of my friends had a really, really big bruise on her knee. Every time she would show us her bruise, we actually felt the pain she felt. Like I said, cheering is not just dancing. It’s much stricter and difficult. In dancing, you’re supposed to be limber. The better you are in dancing, the more you stand out. In cheering, you should be limber, too, but your arms have to stiffen. You can’t look like a limp spaghetti strand when you dance. Every move has to be defined, from the dance steps to the nod of your head to the angle of your arms. Also, you’re supposed to stand out as a team. You aren’t judged by how good you are, but how good your whole squad works.

I felt really weird at my first practice. After changing into jogging pants and a shirt, I clutched my friend Maan’s arm and gripped it hard as we stepped into our gym. I swallowed as I looked at the veteran cheerdancers stretching and warming up. They looked lean and very flexible. I, however, could not even reach my toes when I tried to bend down. As I imitated how one of my friends stretch, I was thinking, What the heck did you get yourself into this time?!

I tried to be optimistic, though, and convinced myself I could do it! After stretching, my friend Patty taught me the steps to the very first cheer I would ever learn, which was Bumakaya. (It’s a Lasallian cheer, in case you don’t know.) There was a roll on the floor and a drop (which is a sudden drop to the floor) at the end, but I was able to get the steps. After a while of repeating the dance to myself, I was able to memorize them. Yes! Now, I had to work on the execution.

The execution is the most important part of cheering. Even if you have the most

awesome steps, they won’t look so great if the cheerdancers don’t execute them well. You really have to give it your best and put all your energy into the dance.

After my first practice, I was dead tired. The sides of my knees were throbbing from all the drops I made and my body was aching as well. When I got home I grabbed an ice bag and put it on my knees. The very next day I had bruises and muscle pain. Welcome to cheering! This was only the beginning.

There were practices almost everyday. Armed with new jogging pants and knee pads (my knees couldn’t take anymore; they were slowly turning purple), I immersed myself into dance steps and cheers. I tried my best to keep my arms stiff and straight, to remember my positions, to execute the steps well and to come on time to the practices.

I love dancing and so I enjoyed learning new steps, but there’s one part of cheering that I’m terrified of—stunts. I don’t think I was made for stunts. I still remember how my best friend taught me how to do a cartwheel. I did learn, but after that my cartwheel deteriorated into a…wheel. I’m not flexible either so I can’t do a split.

When I practiced at home, my dad tried to help me with my cartwheel by making me do a handstand. He said the reason I couldn’t do a good cartwheel was that I was afraid to put my legs up. So he told me to hold myself up as he grabbed my legs and held them straight up. "Okay, now do you know the feeling of having your legs straight up?" he asked.

"Yeah, I know the feeling. I DON’T LIKE THE FEELING! PUT ME DOWN!" I screeched.

I practiced more and my cartwheel got better. It was still far from perfect, but it was still a cartwheel. Trying to do a split was harder. We would do exercises to improve our splits. We were supposed to hold our splits for twenty seconds. Those twenty seconds (if I made it through) were total agony! There I was, my two legs stretched in opposite directions as far as they could go, dying for the twenty seconds to end.

Maybe the hardest part for me was to learn how to smile. You’ll notice that cheerdancers are always performing with their biggest smiles. Even if they make a mistake, they’re still smiling from ear to ear. It’s actually pretty hard to do that. There I was, trying to concentrate on doing my steps well and to smile at the same time. I would actually say "This feels weird" between gritted teeth.

I learned how to smile, after a while. I learned how to do drops without my knee pads. I learned that you should jog with pointed toes. I learned that you shouldn’t have any extra movements when you’re performing — even if all your hair’s in your face, you do not touch it! Slowly, I was learning how it was to become a cheerdancer. Even if I never did become as good as some of the girls in our squad, I was happy to be part of it anyway.

Yes, practices were incredibly tiring. Yes, we got painful scratches and killer bruises. We felt pains in our hands, backs, legs and hearts. We felt the pressure of time and the expectations of other people. Through it all, we told ourselves to have fun. We shared snacks. We passed around the same plastic cup when we were in line for a drink. We cheered each other during practices. We spotted each other when we did the pyramids. We gave each other rides home after practices. We were more than a cheering squad, we were a team.

Before I knew it, there we were, outside our school gym, getting ready for the cheering competition. We were smoothing down our uniforms (I wasn’t able to experience the short skirt because our uniform were pants), recalling steps, hugging each other. Before anything, we all joined our hands in prayer and together asked the Lord for guidance. Our batchmates and friends, the number 4 painted on their faces (in support of the seniors), gave us hugs and wished us luck.

When the seniors were called in, our batch screamed like crazy as we stepped into the gym. It wasn’t so hard to smile when I heard that, so all of us had huge smiles on our faces. When it was our turn to perform, we really gave it our best. It all went by so fast. Suddenly, we were ending our routine already. I was really proud of the squad and even if we had made some mistakes, I think it was an awesome performance.

Unfortunately, we didn’t get the much coveted title as champions. Of course, the whole squad felt sad and our batch felt it too. But we don’t need a trophy to know that our performance was truly spectacular. We don’t need medals to tell us we are a spirited, talented and extraordinary group. Our efforts were enough to put us on top, and I’m very, very proud of us.

I will probably never get the chance to cheer again but I will never forget everything that I experienced already. Now I understand why cheerleaders have a certain aura about them. It’s their spirit that shines through.

To the Senior Cheering Squad of De la Salle Zobel: Em Urieta, Criselle Balbido, Erckie Patiño, Patty Belen, Mitzi Cabe, Raissa Lacson, Chami Madamba, Jecah Ginete, Carmen Sacramento, Mica Fernandez, Maite Tamparong, Paula Gonzales, Cheryl Aquino, Jessie Granadillos, Mikey Velasco, Joseph De Leon, JD De la Cuesta, Martho Buenaventura, Jose Valdez, Philip Velez, Cyrus Vivar, Mio Del Rosario, Alvin Flores and Paolo Lagunilla…we’re still winners! Go Seniors!