Thursday night was their chance to shine. No, I’m not talking about the nine junior high wrestlers who were competing for Hill City. They have lots of opportunity to shine.
I’m referring to the 7th and 8th grade Hill City Junior High Cheerleaders.
I’m guilty of taking this amazing group of students athletes for granted. It’s easy to do. I see them at almost every athletic event I attend. Starting with football, moving on the basketball, and finishing up with wrestling, our cheerleaders have, by far, the longest season of any of our athletes.
What’s more, until wrestling, most of the cheerleaders also play on the athletic teams. Talk about doing double duty.
They are the ultimate support group. They play in their games, be it volleyball or basketball, then immediately don their cheerleader uniforms and fade into the background, working hard to motivate the crowd and the player to victory. Cheer leading is all about selfless sacrifice.
Except for Thursday night. There, between rounds two and three of the tournament, they performed a dance routine, something they have been working on for several months now.
They performed this routine once already, at halftime of a high school ball game. I suppose that that was really their time to shine, in that their dance was the focus, it was all they were there to do that night, and it was their opportunity to grab some attention with the high school crowd.
But Thursday night, I think the girls’ talent and dedication shone all the brighter for having to both cheer and dance. And it was this double duty that inspired me to do a little cheering for the cheering.
Thursday’s tourney featured three rounds, meaning that by and large, every wrestler was scheduled to wrestle three times. At only a few minutes a match, this doesn’t provide a lot of mat time for the wrestlers, though each match is usually an exhausting and often painful affair.
But, between these brief and intense bouts, there is a lot of waiting…for the wrestlers.
The cheerleaders, on the other hand, have hardly any time off the entire evening. They are expected to cheer for each of the twenty-seven matches throughout the evening. They have to be on constant alert, ready at a moments notice to leap up and rush to a mat and begin a series of yelling, clapping, pounding, and other encouraging acts to help their school mates achieve victory.
Cheering at wrestling tournaments is brutal. Often the squad has to be split whenever two Hill City Wrestlers are scheduled on two different mats simultaneously. They have little time to socialize because they never know how long a bout will take, and they could be called upon at any moment.
And then, on top of that, on Thursday they had to dance.
Needless to say, I was very impressed. The routine was pristine, exact, and perfectly coordinated. The movements were crisp and done with enthusiasm. The cheerleaders certainly did shine in this highly polished performance.
Afterward, I went over to congratulate them of a job well done. They were sitting, during a rare break, waiting for round three to begin. I thought they would be giddy after their performance, but I found the group to be rather subdued.
I then realized that what I was seeing wasn’t melancholy or even sadness that they had performed their routine for the last time. In my perspective, I think these girls were just plain wore out. And they still had another nine matches for which to cheer.
All the other sports have a league championship to work towards. Not cheer leading. Theirs is a thankless task, and one they do often and do well. Why do they do it? I would guess because they love making people happy. They love supporting the teams. They enjoy cheering and dancing and working at all the games, all the matches, all the tournaments.
But every now and then, someone should cheer for the cheerleaders. They have more than earned our warmest appreciation.
No comments:
Post a Comment