All of that jumping, tumbling and running can wear down a pair of shoes pretty quickly.

So when you get a new pair, find shoes that will have you cheering in style and in comfort. Wear a pair of Nike Women’s Shox Turbo running shoes, which you can get for dirt cheap on Friday.

With an outsole of quality carbon rubber and Nike’s Shox cushioning in the heel, the Nike Women’s Shox Turbo running shoes will keep you injury free while you train.

With a lightweight mesh upper portion of the shoe that comes in a variety of slick designs and colors, your training will never be boring.

The Nike Women’s Shox Turbo running shoes usually retail for $114.99. You can buy them now online for $49.98.

Or if you come by our retail stores in San Antonio or Laurel, Md., on Black Friday, you can also get them for $49.98! That’s a 57% discount from the original price!

Related: Browse our entire selection of cheerleading training shoes.

Here’s a short video on advanced cheerleading jumps.

By now, you will most probably realise I like to change and adapt old sayings. In an earlier post, I talked about ‘giving what you lack more’, and this post builds on that idea:

“From tiny acorns great oak forests do grow…”

I enjoy taking most thoughts and ideas to their fullest and greater end. Why stop with an oak tree? One oak tree produces many more acorns, which continues the cycle. Just stop and marvel at the Creator for just a second. You could take a barron field, plant just one acorn, and return in just 100 years and not recognise the field. This is a great, natural law: one small seed that grows will produce many times over.

No matter how successful we are, or wish to be, we can all do with more encouragement along the way. Have you noticed how much better you feel when somebody else encourages you? Have you seen a change in productivity or emotional state when you encourage somebody else? Isn’t any environment better when it is filled with positive, uplifting and encouraging people? Cheerleaders may seem unimportant to a sports game, but can you image how much harder the team would have to play to win, if they didn’t have fans and cheerleaders encouraging them?

Today, as you go about your everyday activities, be more encouraging to those around you. Recognize the good work being done. Don’t focus on the little things that people haven’t done, or have done wrong, focus on what they have done well and right. With your children, congratulate them on getting ready for school, remembering their book bag, having a smile on their faces. The more you encourage those around you, the better you will instantly feel, because you are focussing on the positive, but also you will be surprised at the encouragement you receive as a result.

Encourage as many people as you can today: the bus driver, the road sweeper, the doorman, tell them what a great and important job they are doing. Tell your parents what a great job they are doing at raising a family (whether you realise it or not!) Focus your mind on noticing where you can encourage people rather than criticise them.

Spread the encouragement 1% more today and observe what positive changes happen in your environment. You are planting the seeds of a great oak forrest today… enjoy!

October 17, 2009.

Mile 10,025.  Ashley Lake, Kalispell, MT.

I passed the 10,000 mile mark on this trip without noticing.

Montana is beautiful

I am in a bookstore when the cheerleaders call.  They are at homecoming.  They pass the phone around.  They give me the play by play of the game and of the current squad.  I occasionally have to take the phone away from my ear because of the cheering.  My heart fills and overflows just a bit.  I miss them.  I want to be at homecoming, wearing my blue and white, and cheering for my beloved lions.

I do not know what to do.

A couple weeks ago, I was talking a fellow (in Montana).  He was from Hawai’i originally, but moved to Montana because he loved it so much.  He understood the traveling, the seeking.  He had given me this advice, “if you ever don’t know what to do, take off your shoes and stand in the dirt.”

The sun had gone down.  The road was unpaved and slick with mud.  I pulled the car over, cut the engine, stared at the sky.  I pulled off my boots, then my socks.  I rolled up my jeans.  I opened the door.  I stepped out onto the cold mud.  I shut the door.  I stared at the sky, then closed my eyes.

I felt better.

I still didn’t know what to do.

I got back in the car and kept driving.  Ahead of me, there were flashing lights across the road.  An accident.  I hurriedly pulled on my boots, grabbed some gloves, and went to see if I could be of assistance.  It is at least 40 miles to a town big enough to have a hospital.

I approach the group standing around, ask if I can help.  J lost traction on the mud, tires slipped over the bank, then his truck crashed into trees.  The helicopter has come and gone (standard procedure, apparently, when the population is this sparse).  His friends have just finished pulling his truck out of the woods and got it on a flat bed.  Looking at the wreck, I am impressed he survived.

We chat.  They compliment my boots.  I am introduced.  I am hugged.  I am the only person not to grow up around Ashley Lake.  They welcome me.  Everyone stands over 6 ft tall.  T sings a Maria song to me.  This group of 20-somethings invites me back to the house with them.  It is now after midnight.  I accept.

The farm-house is 200 years old.  The coffee is fresh.  There are loaded rifles propped against the door, loaded pistol on a shelf with car keys.  Dogs underfoot, the remains of dinner (lasagna) still on the table.  The boys wrestle like the boys in my family wrestle.  Everyone is blowing off steam and stress.  No one thinks it’s strange for a girl from New York to have suddenly shown up in the middle of the night.  I don’t even think it’s strange.  I feel oddly at home, as if in the childhood home of an old friend.

I learn that most of the cousins are lumberjacks (this is a sprawling, quite extended family).  Girls too.  And they ranch as well.  Someone (unrelated) whispers how many head of cattle and acres of woodland they have.  [This is juicy gossip--for they are telling me exactly how large the family fortune is.]

One of the girls offers me a puppy.  I have been lonely for days.  I am in the midst of family, not my family, but a family.  There is a puppy I can have if I only say yes.  It is 1:30 in the morning.  I have a personal rule that I don’t make decisions after dark.  I turn down the puppy.  (In retrospect, I might have taken it.  It would be nice to have a dog.)

We go to the hospital.  I climb up in their truck.  I am the only one to wear a seat belt.  I stay in the waiting room.  M comes back first.  I stroke his hair.  T arrives.  We all talk gently.  When we leave, someone throws his arm over my shoulders as we walk.  I wrap my arm around his waist.  The familiarity is sudden, but not unwelcome.

It is closer to morning now.  They offer me a bed and breakfast in the morning.  I decline.  They clarify: a bed to myself, in their parents’ home, nothing that even suggests a less than honorable arrangement.  I still decline.

I wake up the next morning next to Ashley Lake.  It is as beautiful and clearly blue as the boys told me it would be.

Sunrise over Ashley Lake

Coastline from my campsite.

This is the lake they love.  They would never leave.  As I once again put the car in gear, I envy that feeling.

Cheerleading is fun, so if you want to try out go for it. But let me tell something you from experience. You practice everyday, have to learn a ton of stuff and your teacher just might be your coach, for school cheerleading. I don’t know for other Cheerleading like SAA, or Elk Grove. And be prepared to learn tumbling for High School because it’s required to tumble. A backflip and something else (just learn to tumble :0). And you can always ask your parents to take tumbling classes. FYI: You don’t have to take gymnastics, some gymnastics places teach tumbling for cheerleaders. Another thing I don’t really like is the fact that you have to maintain a good grade while you’re practicing everyday and having to stay until after 5pm cheering for the basketball team. But cheerleading is really fun, you get to meet new people, learn to base/fly and you have fun. Even though it’s tough, it’s really worth it.

In the last few days, the blog world has exploded in controversy with this new Gap holiday commercial. I saw it on TV last night and I thought there was cool dancing, there must be cheer leaders to pull that off, especially the girl who gets tossed 20 feet in the air at one point, nice sound stage to shoot on, good choreography. I also think the lyrics were fine…except that the Gap is showing its PC side. We have seen mostly PC holiday messages for years now.

But now there are groups (well, one actually: American Family Association – AFA) that are all bent out of shape because in the commercial’s lyrics say “You 86 the rules, you do what feels just right.”

I just dont understand the problem with the commercial. What do you think?

I have to run. I am attending a “Celebrate the coming of Winter with this Winter Welcome gathering” at Stapleton’s town center. Now that’s just another PC name for the lighting of the Christmas lights at my town center.  I hope people aren’t upset when they get there to find out Christmas won’t be mentioned anywhere. What a world we live in.

Here are the lyrics for the GAP commercial:
Two, Four, Six, Eight, now’s the time to liberate
Go Christmas, Go Hanukkah, Go Kwanza, Go Solstice.
Go classic tree, go plastic tree, go plant a tree, go add a tree,
You 86 the rules, you do what feels just right.
Happy do whatever you wanukkah, and to all a cheery night.

Go Christmas, Go Hanukkah, go whatever holiday you wanukkah.

Read the entire story here.

Here’s an excerpt:

They walked together from sideline to sideline. Blue, gold, orange and black pom-poms flung up left and right.

Raiders and Cobras cheerleaders stood side by side.

The Boyd Anderson varsity cheerleaders have made it a practice to extend their hands to the opposing team.

By forming a unity program, the Boyd Anderson girls have been able to greet the opposing team’s cheerleaders, work on a cheer together and simply talk with one another.

Most of all, they gain respect in their attempt to achieve good sportsmanship.

Coach Veverly Pinkey, the head Boyd Anderson cheerleading coach, is in her third year of offering the unity program.

“We have 29 varsity girls that love participating in this, ” Pinkey said. “I’d say we’ve done a good job in getting other squads to join us. Cypress Bay and Deerfield Beach have cheered with us, and this is our second time working with the St. Thomas girls.”

Merete er ikke helt med i sitt eget liv. Det er ikke så veldig nytt det da, men anyway har ikke så mye annet å blogge om.

Da jeg var hos Psykepleier H på tirsdag sa hun at jeg burde gjøre litt mer om dagene. Det vanlige “Ting blir ikke lettere av å bare ligge på sofaen å tenke”-styret. Så da jeg kom hjem tvang jeg meg selv til å ta oppvasken. Var et slit, sofaen ropte høy. Men jeg klarte det. Hele oppvasken ble tatt!

På onsdag var jeg hos Psykolog M og starta timen med et “Ehh…jeg var hos tannlegen for flere uker siden og skulle få et skjema om gratis tannlege av deg”, avtalte å få et slikt skjema på slutten av timen. Så satt hun der å venta. Så på meg og sa ikke et ord. Jeg kjente hun sa med blikket sitt “Du må si hva du vil snakke om Merete”. Vi brukte sikkert halve timen på å sitte å leke stirrelek, eller hun stirra på meg og jeg så som alltid ned i bakken eller på de dumme Emo permene (Et sånn arkiverings perm firma kaller seg for Emo, og jeg har hengt meg sånn opp i de permene fordi det står Emo på dem). Da vi endelig begynte å snakke ble det bare dumt og skummelt. Orker ikke å gå mer innpå hva vi snakket om, da det forblir mellom meg, Psykolog M og “søte mi”.

Idag ringte Psykolog M og sa at hun hadde fått beskjed om at jeg hadde ringt. Jeg har ikke ringt, men som vanlig så var Psykolog M ganske sta og gjenntok flere ganger “Du ringte å sa….”. Det er veldig typisk meg og Psykolog M “Du sa…” “Nei, det gjor jeg ikke” “Men du sa det…” “Nei!”. Jeg husker ikke helt hva det var denne gangen, men noe med tannlegen som hadde bedt om et skjema til eller noe. Psykolog M avsluttet samtalen med “Jeg sender ikke noe som helst, dette ordner du opp i, så håper jeg vi sees neste uke”, jeg mumlet surt et ja tilbake, og nå sitter jeg nå her å lurer på hva jeg sa ja til å ordne opp i. Hva var det med tannlegen som måtte ordnes opp i? Hvem skulle jeg snakke med og om hva? Som sagt – overhode ikke tilstede i mitt eget liv. Jeg står på sidelinja og er en lite engasjert cheerleader for mitt eget liv.

Ellers er jeg inn i en slik “Arkiver livet ditt”-fase. Noe som vil si at alt av journaler og epikriser fra Psykolog K, Post 1, Post 2, Allmenn 1, Allmenn 2 og sykehus, samt alle skolestiler de siste årene + dagbøker ligger slengt over alt. Fordi Merete har fått det for seg at alt skal skrives inn på data, printes ut dag for dag, og arkiveres i permer. Det vil si alt av papirer fra 2006. Hver dag siden 2006!! Det er 1460 dager med hendelser i stort og smått. Et håpløst og vondt prosjekt. Jeg går tross alt igjennom alt som har skjedd siden 2006, alt dumt jeg har sagt og gjort.

Ellers holder jeg på med julegaver, og har mange prosjekter samtidig, og blir aldri ferdig med et før jeg har begynt på tre nye.

På tirsdag skal jeg ha foredrag om “Ungdom, skole og psykisk helse”. Jeg sliter litt med skrivingen og powerpoint’en. Skrivesperre kalles det kanskje på fint. Kjenner pulsen stige litt. For de som vil komme å høre på Merete når hun dummer seg ut starter vi kl. 18.00 på UNI-K sine lokaler i Haugesund.

Ellers skal vi ha juleshow med cheerleading jentene. Showet i år blir dritt kjedelig. Svineinfluensaen har satt noen jenter ut av spill og showet må lages mer allment slik at hvis plutselig en flyer eller en SPOT er syk så kan vi kutte ut et stunt og slik.  Vi har to treninger igjen før showet, og vi har ikke fått på plass musikk engang. Skummelt. Vi er liksom alltid sist ute med det meste når det gjelder show. Vårt første juleshow i turnforeningen desember 2008; hadde vi ikke fått opp pyramiden vi skulle bruke før på showet.

Merete har mange baller i lufta på en gang, og det er vanskelig å holde styr på alt.

It’s a staple of cheerleading squads around the country, but by no means is it easy.

Here is a short video on the standing tuck.

Recently a televised news report stated that cheerleading has become the second leading cause of catastrophic injury in high school and college sports, just behind football.

In recent years the high-impact nature of modern competitive cheerleading has prompted a rise in cheerleading-related injuries. Though we don’t often think of it as a “sport,” cheerleading is actually a very physically demanding activity that calls for a high degree of athleticism, mixing dance, gymnastics and partner stunts. In addition, cheerleading nowadays tends to be a year-round sport, which does not allow appropriate time for recovery.

Most injuries that occur in cheerleading are NOT catastrophic. They occur mostly from chronic repetitive motion (in English, OVERUSE). In particular, the dance component of cheerleading is associated with overuse injuries of the legs and feet such as plantar fascitis, patellar tendonitis, ankle sprains, stress fractures, hip strains, and inflammation around the hips.

But the gymnastics maneuvers cause the number one cheerleading overuse injury. Low-back injuries occur because of repeated hyperextension of the lower back that you see in back bends, back-hand-springs, back flips and having to stand for long periods of time. Add in the fact that most cheerleaders are wearing shoes that are extremely light-weight. These types of shoes do not offer much in the way of either support for the feet or shock absorption. Given the long periods of standing that cheerleaders have at practices and games – along with the aforementioned reasons — it becomes clear to see how lower back pain tends to be a very common complaint amongst cheerleaders. Because of the lack of support from the shoes, ankle and knee injuries can occur in the landings of tumbling maneuvers and partner stunt dismounts.

However, it’s not just the lower half of the body that takes all the abuse. Overuse injuries of the shoulders, wrists, and elbows are common. The athletes at the base of the partner stunts frequently have more of these injuries. In addition they can experience neck injuries and neck pain from having to support the weight of their partner on their shoulders, which forces their necks forward and strains the cervical muscles.

Partner stunts are the leading cause of catastrophic injury in cheerleading. When a stunt goes haywire, the athletes at the top of the stunts or pyramids suffer the most. Falls onto hard gym floors, tracks, or even the grass at football fields can lead to head traumas, fractured wrists and dislocations. Some worse-case scenarios even include broken vertebra in the neck that have led to paralysis.

So how does a parent look out for their child? With prevention and hard work, that’s how.

As in other sports, cheerleaders should take the time to properly warm up and stretch before practice. After practice, properly cooling down can be just as important. Also, in the off-season, a conditioning program should be maintained that includes both aerobic exercise and weight lifting. Cheerleaders should also be allowed access to sports training facilities that the school provides for treatment of ankle and wrist sprains, sore muscles, or even just to tape up their wrists for added support.

The key is to identify overuse injuries early and properly manage them before they progress to something more serious. Chiropractic care is well suited to both of these tasks.

Chiropractic is a natural approach to healthcare that seeks to optimize the natural inborn healing potential within the human body. It is a clinical science that is based upon the principle that the nervous system (consisting of the brain, spinal cord, 31 pairs of spinal nerves and other sensory organs) controls and coordinates the functions of all other bodily systems. Injury to one of the key structures that surrounds and protects the nervous system – the spine – can impede the nervous system’s ability to govern the body and maintain a balance necessary for health.

As this pertains to the athlete, all body movement requires input to the brain from a type of nerve called a proprioceptor. There are literally millions – if not billions – of proprioceptors in every joint, muscle, tendon and ligament in your body. If this proprioceptive input to the brain is altered due to misalignment of the spine or by injury to the muscle or ligament, balance can be adversely affected. More missteps will begin to occur. When proprioceptive input is altered, a new sensation will take its place: pain.

Doctors of chiropractic are the only health care professionals who specialize in the process of correcting spinal misalignments with a procedure called a chiropractic adjustment. These adjustments reenergize the nervous system, reduce biomechanical stress, and optimize the athlete’s agility without the athlete having to overcome the side effects of drugs or irreversible surgeries. Some chiropractors are also specialists in adjusting or realigning the extremities as well. Extremity adjustments can greatly improve function and speed healing after a sprain or strain.

Adjustments to the spine or extremity do more than provide pain relief. They also restore proprioceptive input which helps athletes maintain better balance and body control.

Successful treatment starts with an examination of the injured athlete that identifies areas of muscle imbalance and muscle weakness. X-rays should be taken to evaluate spinal alignment. In addition to chiropractic adjustments of the spine and extremities, your doctor of chiropractic should be well-suited to provide the proper rehabilitative treatment for the injuries to fully heal.

Athletes at the high school, college and professional levels utilize chiropractic to maintain optimal physical condition as part of their regimens for keeping their athletes on the field. Many of today’s top athletes and performers have incorporated consistent Chiropractic care as a means of staying healthy and enhancing their performance. The list is long but includes Lance Armstrong, Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan, Jerry Rice and Emmitt Smith, U.S Olympic Teams, NFL Teams and the NYC Ballet dancers.

As a chiropractor and former college sports medicine trainer, I have seen how overuse injuries occur as well as the consequences for being left untreated. I have seen athletes fail to complete a rehabilitation regimen that led to reinjury down the road that was as bad, if not worse, than the original injury. I have learned how valuable chiropractic is for an athlete, both as a means of treating an injury and preventing future injuries.

If your child has been injured in sports and is experiencing neck pain, shoulder pain, lower back pain, or pain in any of the extremities, you should call a chiropractor so that you can get back in the game.

(To view the recent news report on cheerleading please click HERE.)

Here are a few videos of basic cheerleading stunts that went wrong and could lead to some very painful injuries.

The Injury in the first video happens in the first 17 seconds of this clip.

In this video, the main injury happens to the person on the ground and not the person to get thrown in the air.

We’re just about midway through the school year. That means there has been plenty of standing, jumping and tumbling going on.

All of that action can take a toll on joints and feet, which makes it all the more important to get a quality pair of cheer shoes. But we’re here to say that cheerleading shoes don’t need to be expensive to be effective, and the Nike Women’s Stamina is a great example of that.

The Nike Women’s Stamina features an EVA wedge, heel notch and sculptured arch for comfort and durability, and its stylish, retro sneaker look is sure to turn some heads.

Our reviewers have loved it. Kim, a cheer coach from Columbus, Ohio, said she plans to order the shoes for her team for years to come.

“It’s so light, it doesn’t feel like you’re wearing anything,” she said.

And they’re light on the wallet, too. They cost $34.99.

Related: Check out our entire selection of cheerleading shoes.

Yesterday was one of the most exciting moments of my life. And the most nerve-racking of too. But all you can think of at the moment on the mat is to smile and put all your hard work out there.

The cheerleading SWC’s consisted of all of the Southwest conference cheerleading squads. Ahmerst, Avon Lake, Berea, Brecksville Broadview Heights, Midpark, North Olmsted, Olmsted Falls, and us, Westlake. Each squad performed around a 3 minute routine, with dancing, cheering, and tumbling.

When I walked into Brecksville, my heart started to race. I get very nervous in front of crowds, and performing in front of a few hundred people clearly doesn’t help my cause. Just practicing on the actual mat, my hands started to shake, and my heart started to race. I think I even tripped withen the first 10 seconds of the routine! Still, I put all my efforts into the practice. Before I knew it, our performance time was on, and we went out to the mats. Even though I was nervous, Westlake performed, and we did amazing!!!

Every squad did a good job. Competition is a hard sport to compete in. One girl even broke her ankle doing a back tuck. I hope that she is okay. At the end, North Olmsted came in 3rd, Avon Lake came in 2nd, and Brecksville came in 1st. Westlake came in 6th. Westlake did an amaing job. I can’t wait to do many more competitions with this squad.

Congrats to Lauren Giachetti, Chelsea Phillips, Bianca Beekman, Sabrina Rizea, Maria Lopez, Mandy Slavik, Lexie Polivka, Madison Westover, Marianna Sarrouh, Rebecca Lima, Alison Brock, Eleni Nikolakis, Katie Ryba, Sarah Lewis, Julie Boutall, Courtney Murphy, Kayla Snow, and Morgan Snow!

For those cheerleaders who are also Facebookin’, check out our page.

You can find it here.

As you can see, we post a little of everything on there. We’ve got fan-only coupon codes, special looks at new and upcoming cheerleading equipment products and interesting things here and there.

Follow us to take advantage of special deals and save some serious cash on cheerleading equipment.

We’re also on MySpace and Twitter, if you’d prefer to follow us there.

Related: Check out all of our social networking profiles.

Midway through  my daughter’s gymnastics career I was waiting with the other moms for her practice to finish. One of the mothers asked me a question about the upcoming meet. Before I could answer, her 6 year old son piped up, “Mom, what are you asking her for? You said she never knows anything!” Gasp. The other moms stopped talking. Some were stiffling a giggle. But who could blame him? or her? It was true.

When my daughter was trying out for another team – a much more competitive team with coaches from Russia and practices 4 hours a day, 4-5 days a week in a gym one hour from our home – another mother at the try-out introduced herself to me. We chatted for a while and then she asked, “Does she have her kip?” I asked, “What’s a kip?” She smiled with satisfaction -  convinced my daughter would never make it. Then she asked me to point her out. I did. They were on the uneven bars and evidently, my daughter had her kip. I watched the mom’s face fall.

I used to be a competitive swimmer. And then I coached competitive swimming. I’ve dealt with many a pushy parent. Armchair coaches, we called them. The ones that saw a few races on television during the Olympics, but never swam a day in their life and thought they knew everything. I prayed that my daughter would chose a sport that wasn’t competitive swimming. I wanted her to choose a sport I knew absolutely nothing about.

And she did.

I was thrilled. And she turned out to be pretty good. Then, at the top of her game, she quit.

Off to another sport I knew nothing about. Rowing. I love the water but I knew absolutely nothing of this sport. And the kind of boats? I just had to look up on Wikipedia what kind she raced. K-1 and K-2. But it was so much fun to watch.

And then she discovered a sport I didn’t even know was a sport. Competitive Cheerleading. I had to do everything in my power to keep a poker face when she told me she wanted to try out for the squad. Cheerleading? A sport? Whoop-de-doo. Learn a few chants. Let someone stand on your shoulders. Do a few cartwheels. That’s hardly a sport.

Boy, was I in for an education!

Not only is it a sport, it’s a very dangerous sport. Sixty-five percent of all catastrophic injuries to young women in high school involves cheerleading. You better believe once I heard this statistic I educated myself about this sport. Back in my day doing a cartwheel or a round-off got you on the squad. Now? At my daughter’s school it’s required that you have a standing back tuck. On top of that you need: round off back handspring front layout, round off back handspring full, strength training, dance skills and the ability to stunt. I was thrilled that when she made the squad her position was a base. I did not want her to be a flyer (that’s the one that gets tossed 30 feet in the air.) When we went for her physical her doctor asked what position she was. When I expressed my relief that she wasn’t a flyer the doctor smiled and told me she sees more injuries from the other positions (broken noses, broken clavicles, dislocated elbows and shoulders). What has she gotten into?

Before I signed anything (and you better believe there are release forms for this sport!) I spoke with the coach. She’s a former gymnast and competitive cheerleader, certified, trained and educated. They go to another gym for tumbling where again, they are certified. I breathed a tiny sigh of relief. She’s in her third year and so far, so good.

But beyond me checking out the safety of her coaches, gym and squad I still know very little about the sport. We just returned from the state championships and they made it to finals. A couple of the moms and I were sitting with the coaches at lunch after sectionals. I asked a question. Evidently, a bit of a dumb question. I saw those knowing glances all over again between the moms as the head coach patiently answered me.

I will never be one of those moms that sits in the stands with her pen and schedule, making notes on the other squads, counting how many fell, how many stepped off the mat, how many didn’t complete a stunt. I have no idea how to rank them, how many points are deducted for a fall or what the judges are looking for. I had to ask my daughter a few moments ago to tell me the names of the things she does during her tumbling run. She gave me that look, too.

But that’s ok. I will be my daughter’s cheerleader. I will watch diligently from the stands with eyes on her praying she doesn’t get hurt. I still know less than half of the girl’s names on her squad. I know she gets annoyed whenever I ask, “Now, who is Chelsea?” for the 50th time. But that’s ok. I’m there for her. I’m so proud of the hard work she puts into this sport. It’s a team sport that still showcases her amazing gymnastics ability. Her work ethic is fantastic. She performs in front of thousands of people. She is a consistent athlete. And she loves her teammates. I can’t ask for anything more.

 (Not our squad but an example of what a competitive squad does from last year’s championships)

For a very cool story, KVAL-TV in Eugene, Ore., caught up with former Oregon Ducks cheerleader Libby Smith.

Smith was a cheerleader at UO from 2003-2007, and she is now known as 2nd Lt. Libby Smith in the Army’s HHC 41st Infantry Brigade Combat Team. She’s currently stationed in Tallil, Iraq.

Check out the entire story here.

Here is an excerpt:

How did you juggle cheerleading and the Army?

Smith: There is a big difference between the two uniforms. Most people when they met me asked what do you? I would answer, well I’m in the National Guard and they’d look at you funny because they’d say, didn’t I see you last weekend at the game? Yeah, I’m also a cheerleader at UO. It’s funny because you don’t get that [combination] much.

I actually didn’t go to drill some weekends because of the football games. I’d run over to the armory and say hi and run back across the street to go to the game

How do you watch the games in Iraq?

Smith: We have a lot of Oregon duck fans here; there is a mixture of Oregon and Beaver fans, whenever the game on there’s kind of a big rivalry. We watch the games in the TOC (Tactical Operating Center). If it’s not playing on AFN we defiantly have it on the Internet keeping up on the scores.

I was on shift for the first game, so we watched and it was a very exciting game, especially at the end. Quite a few people got up early in the morning went to the TOC to watch the game. People would stop in and out and check the score. It was almost like Autzen, but not really.

We salute 2nd Lt. Smith for her service and her sacrifice!

Well today I’m home. That’s a first for cheerleading. Maybe just varsity.

Today we had a competition camp, that I missed. My mom was missing and I had no ride. You all should know what that means. I’m an alternative for competition team :/

This is my eye’s is the worst thing that could possibly happen. I’ve worked my ass off to get just here and look where I ended up. I almost got my flip. My tumbling coach said I should have it by competition, but I’M NOT EVEN IN IT.

I’ve only been in tumbling about 5 times and already I almost have my flip.

I’ve gotten punched, kicked, people have fallen on my neck, grabbed my face. I do this because I love it. I’ve missed out on so many things that make me a “teenager” to end up here

One thing to learn. Dedication. I will kill myself to try and get back on competition team. KILL.

Detta gjorde verkligen min dag. Jag satt och kollade runt på olika cheerklipp på youtube, och så hittar jag ett från CBS med titeln “Cheerleaders: Real Athletes?“. Självklart måste jag ju se den. Visst, det var ett bra inslag, lite om hur många timmar i veckan dom tränar och så. När det var klart kollade jag igenom första sidan av kommentarer, bara för skojs skull. Där hittade jag den här kommentaren:

Han är alltså 18 år och sysslar med MMA (Mixed Martial Arts, jag skrev ett inlägg om det för ett par dagar sedan), han har gått fem matcher, och han säger att han har blivit långt mer skadad när han gick cheerleading än av MMA hittills.

Visst, fem matcher är inte så mycket, men det är ändå en kontaktsport som man tycker att man borde få rätt mycket stryk i. Jag älskar när folk som faktiskt har perspektiv ploppar upp och säger som det är. :>

/E

It’s been brought to my attention this week that I am “the anti-cheerleader”. Or at least that’s what people think of me. I am coaching a team of 1st through 4th grade girls in a faith based basketball/cheerleading league. When an old friend asked me what I was up to, I told him I was coaching cheer and trying to get back into cheering myself. He looked at me like I’d just spued green soup and my head turned around and around. He then told me, “you a cheer coach, but you’re the anti-cheerleader”. The next day while doing fittings for the cheerleaders, I ran into a guy I play softball with in the summers, who is coaching basketball for the same league. He asked me if I was coaching the girls team, I said “no, I’m coaching one of the cheer teams”. He also looked at me in disbelief. (Of course on Christmas Eve last year, he told me he’d never seen me with out a Detroit Tiger’s hat on, which I realized was true.) I asked him if he thought of me as “the anti-cheerleader” and he said “definately”.

People seem to have a misconception about cheerleading. I’ve done a lot of different sports and activites since I was about 3 many different kinds of dance, gymnastics, soccer, baseball, softball, basketball, tennis, swimming, etc. Cheerleading is by far the most physically demanding. You use every single muscle in your body. Most girly/girls can not handle cheerleading and stick to dance or gymnastics.  What girly/girl is going to let another girl stand on her hands, or legs, or sit/stand on her shoulders?  While doing cheerleading I’ve been thrown in the air, thrown girls that weigh 15 lbs more than me in the air, I’ve lifted girls in the air over my head on my own. My senior year of high school some football players were saying how easy it looked to stunt. We laughed at them and gave them a lesson. I was 5′6″ 115lbs at the time.  These guys were all over 6 feet and weighed a good 175/200lbs each. They couldn’t lift a little 5′4″ 100lb girl in the air.  It’s not as easy as it looks.  Most high school and college cheerleaders have been cheering since they were 5.  We lift other girls in the air, tumble, jump, and those little cheers we do, we just make them look easy.

Basket Toss
Can you throw a 120 lb girl in the air and catch her?  On beat with music while smiling?  I can.

2009-2010 Paragould Cheer Team | Front row: (L-R) Kristian Purser, Madison Ward, Courtney Purser, Chassity Hooten. Middle row: Callie Mosley, Molly Johnson, Lauren Jetton, Bailey Colbert, Brooke Jadwin. Back row: Anna Wilson, Jordan Rice, Alexis Halbrook, Shalyn Wallace, and Samantha Erickson.

The Paragould Cheer team has their goal set on contending for a state championship this season, and they’re doing it with 14 smiles.

The team is led by senior captains Courtney Purser and Madison Ward. Both girls have been a part of the Paragould cheer program for several years, with Purser starting in eighth grade and Ward beginning in seventh.

The team will have competed in three competitions by the end of the season, including the state championships held in Hot Springs in early December. The winner of the state championships will go on to the National competition at Walt Disney World in Orlando.

Paragould represented the state at Nationals three years ago, and has their eyes set on going back.

“They’ve been working on it for months and months and months,” coach Brooke Williams shared. “Their goal is to win state and go to nationals.”

The team hired a choreographer this year to come in during the summer and help design their program in preparation for the competitive season.

PHS senior captains Madison Ward and Courtney Purser

“We’re a big competition squad,” Purser said. “You really feel like you’re leading everyone in cheers (at a football game), but the other half of (cheer) is that we’re really, really competitive and while we can’t contribute to the outcome of the football game, we control how our cheerleading goes.”

Williams is in her fourth year as team sponsor and proudly praises the girls on her team, and notes their accomplishments that stretch far past the sideline.

“To me they are outstanding,” Williams said. “They all have great grades, they all are in AP classes, college classes, taking really hard classes and getting really high grades.”

“We always stress that they are classy and they do things in a right way,” Williams explained. “They are just very good girls and they represent their school very well. I think to me that’s a big part of it. You can make anyone tumble or cheer, but you can’t make girls be good girls, but they are.”

There is no doubt that cheerleading requires a time commitment that rivals that of any other sport. The team practices on average for about nine hours a week, not counting the time spent cheering on fellow Rams’ teams during football and basketball season.

“We’re usually the last sport at the school left still practicing stuff,” Ward said.

“Even the one day we don’t practice, we’re still doing cheerleading stuff from making signs to other stuff,” Purser shared.

Through all the dedicated work, these girls love what they do and the part they play representing their school. Both captains highlighted some of their favorite aspects of cheer.

“I like when we’re at the games and we can actually get the parents to stand up and yell along with us, and then the team starts feeling that too,” Ward shared. “That’s my favorite part.”

“I like it when the little girls that always want to be a cheerleader walk up to you,” Purser explained. “One time, when I was working, a little girl came up to me and was staring at me. Her Mom said, ‘stop staring, Honey’ and the little girl said (wide-eyed), ‘Mom, that’s a cheerleader!”

“To little girls we’re kind of like celebrities,” Purser added. “That’s my favorite part.”

When asked to describe their team’s personality, Purser and Ward came up with several adjectives. Happy-go-lucky, bubbly, crazy, goofy and dedicated.

“I don’t know how you’d sum that up into one word,” Purser said with a smile, “but we all have a real positive outlook on things.”

The team has 14 members and is balanced throughout classifications. The senior class of six includes captains Purser and Ward, as well as Anna Wilson, Molly Johnson, Bailey Colbert, and Chassity Hooten. The team’s junior class includes Alexis Halbrook, Callie Mosley, Lauren Jetton, and Brooke Jadwin. The team also boasts four sophomores in Jordan Rice, Shalyn Wallace, Samantha Erickson, and Kristian Purser.

“We’re all a family,” Purser said. “We always call ourselves a cheerleading family and not a cheerleading squad.”

Related: Prep for your tryouts with some of our Cheerleading America training gear.

and you know what that means – it means I’ll be taking a break from the gettin’ real stuff to bring you a story of friends, cheerleaders and “running” late, as told to me by Miriam; because today, folks, is  TMI Thursday — live the horror, share the shame.

 See Lilu’s awesomely funny blog for more information on TMIT!

Today, I bring you Miriam.  Miriam was a cheerleader in her freshman year of college.  In fact, she was a Texas cheerleader.  She did not, however, have big Texas cheerleader hair, so I’m not sure how she actually got on the squad.  But on the squad she was.  And cheer, she did.  No matter what. 

She was dedicated that Miriam!  But one thing she was not was punctual.  You knew she’d get there, but you could never be quite sure when she’d get there. 

So this one particular day, Miriam was running late for practice, as per usual.  But she was determined to put herself into high gear and make up for her lost time and get there on time.  Nothing was going to stop her from getting there – not traffic, not homework, not even the fact that she had to pee like a stallion on Flomax would keep her from getting there ON TIME this day.

She made it – in full uniform and everything, without a minute to spare.  They started the practice the usual way, with some stretches and drills, and then started on partner stunts.  Miriam was a tiny little thing, so she always got to be a “flyer.”  If you’re not familiar with cheerleading, the flyer is the girl that they toss around in the air like she’s a hacky sack and somehow she comes out unscathed and smiling, no worse for the wear. 

So they started out with a fairly easy trick: an elevator.  Three girls serve as the base, and Miriam, since she was a flyer, would be on top.  Kind of like this:

So there Miriam stands, hoisted in the air, when one of the cheerleaders below said something funny.  Maybe it was about Miriam’s underwear thingies, maybe it was about her usual tardiness, or maybe it wasn’t about Miriam at all.  But the bottom line was that Miriam was amused.  So she laughed.  And when she started to laugh, she was reminded of all that she’d skipped to get to practice on time, such as a visit to the ladies room. 

Now I know you all already see this coming, but unfortunately, Miriam didn’t.  Nor did the girls serving as her base.  That’s right – Miriam peed.  It wasn’t a full-on horrible rush of urine…just a little…trickle.  Right down her left leg, and on to the holder of her left leg below.

At this point, Miriam was left with a choice – stay, and continue peeing on this girl, or excuse herself to the ladies room.  Miriam chose option B, dropped backwards to the mat, and ran to the ladies room.  She peed, cleaned herself up, and then walked out of the gym, never to look back, thus ending her cheerleading career.  She even dry-cleaned her uniform and SHIPPED it to the coach, so as not to see her face, nor any of the faces of the cheerleaders.  But with leaving her cheerleading dreams behind, she hopefully also left behind the humiliation of giving one of her teammates a non-consensual golden shower. 

Thus ends the story of Miriam the Cheerleader, and begins her new life as Miriam the party girl.  I mean, if you’re going to have a bad reputation anyway, it might as well be for the right reasons!

To whom it may concern:

Jag blir så jävla ARG!

Jag har en kompis, vi kan kalla henne Anna*. Hon älskar en sport, vi kan låtsas att det är cheerleading**.

Hon har brunnit för cheerleading sedan hon gick i högstadiet, och aldrig låtit något stoppa henne för att nå sin dröm.

Hon startade ett eget lag på skolan, som bröt upp till sommaren, men när hon började gymnasiet träffade hon en annan tjej där som också var intresserad.

Tillsammans startade de ett lag, som först var mest bara ett gäng tjejer som tränade tillsammans och hade kul. Sedan blev det mer och mer seriöst, och till slut blev det en hel “riktig” förening, ett riktigt lag, som åkte på läger och lärde sig och utvecklades i en rasande fart.

Hon kämpade och kämpade, det spelade ingen roll om hon var sjuk eller mådde dåligt, hon körde på ändå,  och hon fick sin dröm om att tävla i cheerleading.

Sen gick hon ut gymnasiet och flyttade till Östersund. Där startade hon ett till lag. Det gick lite trögare, det var lite svårare att hitta medlemmar, speciellt seriösa sådana.

Nu har det gått två år, och Anna försöker kämpa vidare. Det blir lite trögare för varje dag, och hon får aldrig höra att hon gör något bra. Det är snarare så att hon bara får höra att hon gör fel när hon får höra något om det. Det är ingen som förstår, det är ingen som försöker sätta sig in i det Anna har gjort och försöker göra för dem.

JAG AVSKYR FOLK SOM GÖR SÅ!

Varför kan inte ni inse att Anna gör er en otrolig tjänst? Det hon gör för er är näst intill det bästa någon kan göra för någon annan. Hur kan ni vara så otacksamma att  ni bara ger henne skit? Det är så jävla dålig stil! Jag blir så arg!

Visst, det kan stundvis (eller mest hela tiden) vara otacksamt att vara en tränare eller styrelsemedlem, för man får ingen cred när man gör något bra, och man får höra det om och om igen om man råkar göra något som gått det minsta fel. Men man ska inte behöva må dåligt av att tänka på det man älskar mest i hela världen!

Det är precis det som händer Anna.

Jag säger bara FUCK THEM. Anna, du är värd så himla mycket mer. Du är en helt underbar människa, och du förtjänar verkligen att må bra och vara glad hela tiden. Du förtjänar att leda och träna i ett lag som verkligen uppskattar dig för det du gör. <3

SÅ glad förtjänar Anna att vara, alltid!

/E

* Hon heter faktiskt Anna.
**Det är verkligen cheerleading det handlar om.

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Club sports are an undergraduate institution at Yale. While most teams typically welcome graduate student members, there is a participation limit on the ratio of graduate students to undergraduates. If we know a particular club sport has graduate student participants, we will break it off into its own post so that people can comment on it specifically. This is a list of club sports as of Fall 2009. Please let us know if you have any information on participating or joining these teams!

Badminton, Ballroom Dance, Baseball, Basketball (Men’s & Women’s), Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, Cheerleading, Cricket, Cycling, Equestrian, Figure Skating, Golf, Field Hockey, Ice Hockey, Kickboxing, Kung Fu, Lacrosse (Men’s and Women’s), Pistol & Rifle, Platform Tennis, Polo, Powerlifting, Road Running, Rugby, Shotokan, Skeet & Trap Shooting, Alpine Skiing, Nordic Skiing, Soccer (Men’s and Women’s), Squash, Swimming, Table Tennis (Ping-Pong), Tae Kwon Do, Tennis (Men’s and Women’s), Ultimate Frisbee (Men’s and Women’s), Volleyball (Men’s and Women’s), Wrestling

We have additional info on the following club teams, so check out the posts for those: Kendo, Water Polo (Men’s and Women’s).