cheer-tastic.

i remember the days where i was a cheerleader.
i suck as a flyer.
i couldn't lock properly, which then resulted with failed basket tosses. =/
i couldn't really do extensions either. even that was the minor ones already.
silly me.
haha. yeah. i suck as a flyer. but i was still a flyer then.
best position ever.

but yes. a flyer wouldn't go up it wasnt for the trusty bases and spotter.
if i were to be in a cheer squad, i'm pretty sure i'll be a back spotter.
i definitely can't be a base. my bones will break.
=O
yeah. i can be a good back spotter. =)

i was just browsing through facebook and i stumbled upon this video about Thailand's cheer squad debuting in the US cheer comp.
then i searched for their performance on youtube.
got me repeating it for a few times. they were good.
those stunts were freaky.
makes elevator and extensions look like a snap of a finger.
but yeah. elevators and extensions are actually the basic, if you can't do that, then you can't do anything else already, let alone a pyramid.
insane.
and you train like mad. literally.
and get bruised, twisted ankles and wrists, torn ligaments and so on... just for a three minute routine.
and that three minute routine, that manages to get the whole stadium on their feets, cheering you on, amazed.

you can't possibly get this 'feeling' in any other sports.
sure you can see people cheering on their favourite teams and all.
but this, you will actually be blown away and be estatic, looking at the stunts each squad does.
it's nerve-wrecking and heart-breaking to see a stunt fail.
oh. it really does.
it is never as simple as a little kid running around with his/her own two feet, falling down. they look so adorable. but you can't really get hurt in that way.
imagine you being high up in the sky, being tossed, waiting to be catched, but something happened, and you just land wrongly.
goodness knows what kind of injuries you'll get.
you'll be really lucky if you can stand again, unhurt.
but there have been cases where cheerleaders do break their bones.
surely there are some severe cases out there, i choose not to search for them.

i love this sport.
the energy it brings, both to the participants and the audience.
out-of-this-world feeling.

you see cheerleaders dancing, jumping around, planting a super duper cheerful and perky expressions on their faces, not knowing how much PAIN they have to go through, just to get that three minute routine done, perfect and flawless.
they practice them over and over again for millions of times, just to get the stunts right.
the dancing is the easiest part of the whole routine, but not the stunts.
stunts are just...
*insert a bombastic word here*

oh. and it builds alot of trust amongst the team members as well.
that is why they are so attached when they have to leave the squad or anything similar.
even when they do leave the squad due to unavoidable reasons, they still try to get back in the sport in any way possible.
i've seen alot of them going places just to get back into cheer.
i myself, have yet to participate in any.

there are guy cheerleaders too.
do no underestimate them.
they are essential. cos they have the strenght to throw the flyer higher up than girls would.
hah! haven't seen a girl do a single base cupie before. so yeah. stereotypically, it is a guy's position.
other guys looking at guys who cheer, may be deemed as gays or pervs.
gays cos they have to be PERKY and pervs cos they have to look UP at their flyer.
puh-lease.
though i can't help disagreeing with the gay part, cos i've seen gay cheerleaders. or at least i think they are... oops.
they still awesome. boo you.

and. you must have trust for each other.
i can't imagine what would happen if the base hated the flyer and... yeah. i shall leave that up to your imagination.
but it is a tradition that cheer squads have a 'heart-to-heart' session.
every member of the squad will sit together in a circle, talking about every likes and dislikes about each other.
well, for sure there are some discomforts somehow.
but in the end, with sessions like that, the squad gets closer, more understanding and... stronger?

by the end of the day, it is the experience that the cheerleaders get from this whole experience.
training for almost everyday, just to get their routine right.
bruised, just to get their stunts right.
...
..
..
....
.




wait.
dancing is like that too!
=F
maybe that is why i was so enthusiastic about dancing when i lost cheer.
aha!
i learnt something about myself today.
interesting.