The Results of a Season like No Other

The season is starting to wrap up for most teams and for many coaches we are starting to plan for next year.  That’s cheerleading for you - year round!  As coaches, we reflect back on a season like no other.  

I have been very fortunate to already see the results of what I have coached my team to do all season.  For some coaches, maybe you have not seen the results yet, but I hope that this will give you some inspiration.  In the past for me sometimes it took many years before members of my teams came to me to let me know what the season meant to them.  

I write this after just finishing competing in the State Championship in Colorado in the 2A All Girl division as the reigning State Champions. 

I honestly had no idea how we would do.  

Every team at the championship had so many obstacles.  My team had our fair share as well.  Everything I have shared with all of the CCA coaches this season, I applied to my team.  To be honest, I was beginning to doubt if my advice even was working for me.  The last post I sent said to be faithful.  My team had been faithful and the routine was still not coming together.  

If you would have seen the routine that I recorded and sent in for a virtual competition just seven days before State, you would have said, there is no way this team will be able to defend their State title this year.  I hate saying that, but at that time we had not even run our routine full out until 7 days before State.  We just couldn’t run it full out 7 days before due to quarantines, injuries, and surgeries!  

The State competition was the first and last performance of the season.

AND we were defending our title with ONLY 5 athletes on our team - no pressure! 

Our school opted for spring football and because the only home football games conflict with the musical which most of the team is in, we can't cheer at the football games.  We could not cheer for any indoor sports due to the size of our gym. So here we were at the State Championship with only 2.5 minutes to show what they have been working for since June. I hoped and prayed their faithfulness would pay off.   

When you look at a small division like a 2A cheer division, you think that it could be easy to win a State Championship in cheerleading.  I have coached teams of all sizes and let me tell you that it is not easy at all.  When you are at a 2A school, you take whatever athletes you get. The 5 I have on any other team are actually 3 flyers and 2 back spots, so I had to figure out the stunts without true bases.  

When you coach at a small school, you share your athletes with other sports and activities.  You take whatever practice space you can get, even if your flyer can't do a full high-V in an extended stunt because of the ceiling height and you only have space for 3 mats.  When only 5 athletes are on the team, it is more challenging to try more advanced stunts because you don't have many spotters.  

The Colorado scoresheet is more about execution and the cheer over difficulty.  So, we focused on execution and the cheer, especially because we couldn't stunt for a good part of the year.  When we could stunt with the size of our team and if someone was not at practice because of quarantine or something else, I ended up basing a ton of stunts.  I based probably more stunts this year than my whole coaching career combined.  And, I was a flyer when I cheered.  

The week of State, after that dreaded virtual video we sent in, the routine finally started to come together.  Still I thought, “I just wish we had a little more time.” Then, the day of State arrived and I realized that we were ready. 

I motivated our team to radiate!  I reminded them to take care of the details. When a team is clean and if there is a mishap in a stunt, the judges will be more forgiving because they will see that we are disciplined.  When you clean and are super sharp, when you move with your arms pinned, when your formations are in the correct spot, when your voices are loud, when you have energy - these points add up big time.  

My team went out and once they made it through their stunts at the beginning, I knew we were going to perform the best routine we could possibly put out on the mat.  Then, at the very end, the last two counts of the music, the pyramid fell.  It was disappointing because they had hit it every time the entire week.  It did not fall once.  However, I was so very proud of them!  I told them that they did the very best they could and no matter how we placed, we still won!

But then we were all wondering, “Was it enough?”

I kept going back and forth on whether or not we would place in the top two.  I knew that even with a two point deduction, we still had a chance at placing because the rest was pretty clean.  Then, I felt that maybe I was being biased as their coach.  

I waited outside with my team.  None of us could get the live feed of the announcement, so we just thought they weren’t announcing the winners yet.  

Suddenly my phone started blowing up with texts from people. I actually looked at it when my husband sent me a message saying congratulations.

What in the world does that mean?

I called him and I asked, "Congratulations on what?" not believing what I think he was telling me.  He said, "you won!"  I put him on speaker and all the girls heard and started screaming!  That is not exactly the way we were supposed to find out we won, but I am so glad I was with the team and the whole team said that they loved how they found out!

It took a few days for it to sink in that our team had won the State Championship for the second year in a row, especially considering all the circumstances.   

Then I realized that I didn’t need to doubt what I had done with my team and the advice I had sent out to all the CCA coaches.  This advice was: keep it simple, practice like it is your last practice, be flexible with your stunting positions, it is not about the trophy, and most importantly to be faithful with every opportunity you have.  

Yes, it is great to have walked away as State Champions, but I was most proud of how they performed and carried themselves.  Even if we had not won, I was one proud coach.  

The following comment on our score sheet means everything to me.  This is seriously the BEST comment I have ever gotten on a scoresheet in my history of coaching.  

Great job making 5 athletes feel like a much bigger team. The routine fit perfectly for your squad; impressive.

This was the hardest routine I have ever choreographed due to the size of our team and the changes we had to make throughout the year.  Choreographing a pyramid with 5 is not easy at all!  

The team seemed much bigger than what they were because every one of them had a lot of confidence.  The routine did fit for them.  It was not too difficult and really highlighted their strengths.  Confidence made all the difference.  

No matter how your season concludes, I want you to know that from the bottom of my heart, winning a back to back State Championship did not make my team’s season.  I, along with the team were extremely proud of how we performed and radiated the work they put in all year.  Yes, we walked away with the trophy, but as I have heard back from multiple cheerleaders from my last back to back State wins in 2008 and 2009, their memories are more about the confidence, discipline, work ethic and character they developed that they carry with them today.  Their trophies sit in a case at the school, but the experience is something they have carried with them for their lives.  

Please send an email and let me know how your season went!  I want to hear it!  The highs and the lows.  Email me here! 

Getting ready for next season? 

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