Personal Narrative: My Love Of Cheerleading

I’ve been a competitive cheerleader for the last seven years, and I can’t imagine doing any other sport. I’ve been a part of the Maryland Twisters cheerleading organization for three years, and as soon as I sat in on one of Eye of the Storms, the special needs team, practice I wanted to be a part of the team. After watching Eye of the Storm practice, I was amazed at the hard work and determination the athletes. I wanted to experience the love of cheerleading with these inspiring athletes. As soon as the new cheerleading year started, I spoke with the owner of Maryland Twisters about helping out with their special needs teams, Eye of the Storm and Storm Chasers. I was thrilled when she said the other coaches would love the extra help with the teams.
Every Monday from 6pm to 8pm and Saturdays from 9am to 1pm, I help coach Eye of the Storm and Storm Chasers.
When I’m volunteering my responsibilities include leading the athletes through stretching, helping the athletes practice their routine, and assist them in stunts and tumbling. Cheerleading is incredibly dangerous sport and with the athletes throwing their bodies around a lot can go wrong. With my expertise on cheerleading, I help make sure all tumbling and stunting is executed correctly, minimizing injuries. Every moment I spend coaching I must be completely alert and aware, so no athlete is injured because my negligence. Our team always could use more helpers, so I started recruiting other cheerleaders in our gym to help out with Eye of the Storm and Storm Chasers. The most difficult part about recruiting people is that not a lot of people will commit to spend their free Saturdays volunteering. Another difficult part of volunteering as a whole is being a coach first and a friend second. I love the athletes I coach, and we’re one big family. However, sometimes I need to critic their skills and be their coach not their
friend. Through this project, I’ve been able to change the mindsets of people when they think about athletes will disabilities. Others think that having a disability means that athletes will never be able to advance in their skillset, but the coaches and I promote that through hard work our athletes can achieve anything. Also, I strive to make sure the athletes on my team know that they are capable of anything they put their mind to. I plan to continue coaching Eye of the Storm and Storm Chasers for the rest of this cheerleading season till April, and help out next year if I attend college in the area.
Working with Eye of the Storm and Storm Chasers has been an eye-opening experience. The athletes I coach have inspired me to never put limits on myself, and to never settle for anything less than my goals. I believe that if the athletes I coach can reach their goals with disadvantages, there is no reason I won’t be able to reach my goals with the advantages I have. Coaching Eye of the Storm and Storm Chasers has taught me how to calmly react to situations and how to handle them. For example: I’ve learned if there is an injury the first thing to do is not panic and tell all the other kids to get a drink of water so they’re not crowding the injured athlete. My favorite memory of volunteering, when I felt great about volunteering, was the first time Eye of the Storm put up their stunts, not one stunt fell. I knew then that the athletes on my team were pushing themselves to work harder than ever before. I felt warmth in my chest and I couldn’t stop smiling for days. My advice for any young people would be to get out in the community and volunteer. When your volunteering there will never be a moment of regret, you will just have moments of pure happiness.