Game Practices

Well, I tried to post something after last nights practice but forgetful me  forgot my user name and password to my blog. No worries I figured it out again.

Pat left for San Diego last Friday and he wont be back until Thursday so that means that Nicky is running practices this week.

Sundays practice consisted of game practice. I had a ton of fun. Other people not so much. Although it is frustrating to have to relearn game stuff its nice to have a relaxing practice. We combined into two teams for the game there is an All-girl sideline and an coed one.

I am part of the All-girl sideline. I forgot how much our team likes to talk. We had a pretty good practice. One thing that gets me though is how much people don't clue into what is going on. Besides for the guys every girl has cheered before so they have all had to remember routines. How can people no remember where to go for crowd sideline or even time outs. Don't even get me started on pregame. First off one of our sidelines is going to be messed up just get to your spot and worry about it later. That's what us vets are for, you just follow us around until you get the hang of it. That's what I did my freshman year, I followed my vet base partner Silk around like a lost puppy dog. I hope things will be easier when we get to go onto the field Thursday.

After game practice small coed reped elite and team stunt for like 15 minuets.  Our team stunt has been off lately and I don't know what it is. Our elite on the other hand is going very nicely.

Nose update! There is still a little bruise, I do not have a black eye or anything thank Jesus! It should be back to normal by the game!

Thought this was pretty cool! I would probably break myself if I tried to do this now.
 Cheerleader Breaks Handspring World Record

Don't Sweat the Small Stuff

We spent the majority of yesterdays practice preparing for our next football game. Working on our skill sets and fight songs. It was a lot of fun being over with all-girl again. Although we just worked on team stunt and elite stunt. Its kind of a bummer that were not in any pyramids, but it would be a lot of relearning and pretty much taking a step backwards for all-girl, so I understand. At this game small coed will be doing some of the elements from our routine which I am pretty pumped about.

So Bri and Eboni have been planning a surprise for Jasmin's birthday the past three weeks. They planned on having everyone over after practice and then we were all going to Wayside. Well, Jasmin just got a new kitten (pictured below with my best friend Jackie) and she got her shots and some sort of surgery so someone had to be with her at all times. Since Jasmin didn't know that everyone was going out for her birthday she was just going to stay in. Obviously Bri and Eboni had to then tell her about her surprise and we needed to find a cat sitter for her to go out. They kept asking everyone at practice and finally Church said that she would watch the kitty. Bri was so thrilled she was screaming across the track bay to Eboni, "CHURCH IS GOING TO WATCH THE CAT." It was just a funny moment from our practice.

 

After we broke back into our three teams we started reping our elite sequences. Pat was happy with how much we progressed. From the elite we went to the cheer pyramid. We made really good strides on both sides. When we have people spotting Pat told me to just run out of the way if the pyramid is falling. One of the reps our side was going down and I tried to get out of the way but there was not enough room for me to run. So I did the obvious other choice I dove through a gap between Carter and Jimmy. It was quite entertaining. Pat looked at me on the ground and I just said "You told me to get out of the way."

Then he had us run a block of our routine, we were running the cheer full out and team stunt full out. The first one our side of the pyramid fell and my team stunt was...disastrous to say the least. The second time our side of the pyramid fell again and I caught Bri and Delgado with my face. This was time where I couldn't dive out of the way. As I was getting up to go to team stunt I realized that there was blood on the ground and not going to  lie I didn't even realize it was from me until I saw more blood.

This was the first time I've ever gotten a bloody nose. I didn't know what to do, so I went in the bathroom and thank the lord Samme came and helped me out. It took a little bit for it to stop bleeding, I think its because I have a big nose. Anyway, when I eventually made it back to practice I got asked about 50 times if I was okay. I told them that I was going to be out the rest of the season. HA!

We jumped right back into running the block and my side of the pyramid still could not get a hit, and my team stunt was just as bad. Finally we just did the pyramid step by step and we got a hit. We ended practice on that.

At the end of practice, Pat gave us another lesson. This journey is going to be filled with bumps and bruises and we have to remember that its all going to be worth it in the end. So we can't sweat the small stuff and just push through the pain. Being as I lost half of the blood in my body through my nose, I was allowed to break out of practice. Which is just saying what we thought about our practice and then we go home.

For Better or Worse

There is a God and I owe him one...or five. But before I get to why let me just say Pat started off the practice by asking us which we wanted first, the bad news or the really bad news. As a team we chose the really bad news. The really bad news was that he plans on adding at least four more practices in the next month and a half. Some are going to be on Sundays and others on Friday nights. This news was not that bad in my opinion...then again I enjoy practicing.

On to the bad news. This one was kind of a shock but not at the same time. He just told us that he was watching cheer videos the past weekend and he decided that we have to be "us." A switch flipped in my head and I automatically thought oh shit were watering this routine down... a lot. After he told us his plans on switching things in the majority of the routine, I asked the question that everyone was thinking, are we still going down with our original goal in mind. He eased my mind to say the least.

The first thing we changed is our opening tumbling. Our new formation is more visual. My part didn't change which was a good sign. The formation for the elite is the same. All-girl does a stunt then spring tucks. We just put counts to it today. Then first pyramid is the same also. So pretty much the only thing we changed from the beginning is the opening tumbling.

Now to the good part. I NO LONGER HAVE TO HOLD THE CHEER PYRAMID!! God must love me a whole lot, because I now do NOT have the hardest part in our routine! I don't think anyone realizes how happy my hair is. So instead of holding it I am backspotting it. Even when he put me in the position I was trying not to freak out I did a good job at practice but after my mind was going wild. Now I don't have to worry about it!

Team stunt got watered down. To be completely honest I'm kind of mad. I know every group including Carters was a bit shaky but I really do feel that if we had the time to work on it we would get it. Pat's rational was it would never be clean, which I can understand. But at the same time my group along with every other group was progressing well. It wasn't like any group was a total disaster in any of the elements.

Baskets changed and this part I feel like is an improvement. Our new baskets are gonna be bad ass, no joke. Oh, and we finally have an idea of what our end pyramid is going to be! Super excited about that. That's pretty much all the changes we made.

Although we watered down a few areas I don't think its going to have an effect on our overall goal. We now are in the position to have a clean and elite routine.

We even got the opportunity to start running a few elements of the cheer tonight. It was more frazzled than before, but I think its just because of all the changes.

One of the best moments from my practice today was when we were reping team stunt; Bri was falling out of a stunt and we were all over the place below here, I yelled save it and she just locked up. She froze and we saved the stunt. That is exactly why she is one of the best fliers. She doesn't just give up on stunts, she does her part to save every single rep. It makes me extremely happy to have her as my flier.

Even on days like today where we have to get a lot done in a short period of time I can't help but be thankful for each person on my team. They genuinely put me in a good mood. I know I can always count on them. In a stressful situation like nationals is its a relief to know that I have a strong support group around me.


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Time to Step it Up

Since I forgot to inform everyone about Thursdays practice that is where I will begin today.

Thursdays practice went as expected, lots of reps. Bri officially was moved to top girl on my side of the first pyramid and we took one group out of the elite sequence. We also added in spring tucks. As me and Gera like to say..."sweating." We were supposed to have a 6am on Friday morning but since we had so much to learn Pat gave us the option of staying until 11 that night. Which we all took thankfully.

It was like beat up Laura day on Thursday. While the two sides of the cheer pyramid were reping our middle group was doing our stunt. Sander, our flier for the stunt, came down weird and body slammed me into the ground. She didn't get hurt though thank the lord and all she did was knock the wind out of me... and rip off my nail. I have fake nails by the way. Then at the end of practice we were throwing our elite basket and somehow Jaclyn came straight down and her foot slammed into my leg and I just felt my leg smash down into my ankle if that makes any sense.

Other than getting beat up practice went well. Team stunts were very good. At one point a bunch of us were hitting the wall and that turned into us getting very very slap happy. Finally the people in charge of closing the IAC kicked us out.

Now onto tonight's practice. Let me just say this. I am starting to understand what Pat is saying when he has me repeat "I am a machine" because today one of the first things we did was redo our first pyramid. So after all these long practices of tying to get the first pyramid to hit, he changes it. Though I will say this, this pyramid is a lot more visual and its a little bit easier to hold.

We spend most of our practice on pyramids today. We repd team stunt for a little bit, while the coed couples were working with the coed team. My group struggled a little bit today. We are hitting the stunt fine, we just need to clean it up... a ton. That's just one of the things on my list to work on.

Here is the kicker of today's practice. I have officially been given the hardest part in our routine. I now am holding the cheer pyramid. So on top of doing everything else along with holding the other two pyramids... I have another one added on. Today was my first day even attempting it and I'm pretty sure we could have given a doll new hair with how much was pulled out of my head. My shoulders have more shoe hickeys than they have all year, but as much as it sucks now, it will be worth it in a few months.

Pat asked me what I thought of holding the pyramid. If its for the benefit of the team and where the team wants to go then don't hesitate to put me in. Therefore...I'm in.

I kept telling Kelvin when we were done with each rep, "I need a harder workout plan for sure now." There is no way I will be able to hold this without working my ass off outside of practice.

They don't compete against us or anything, they are just so damn good and I need some inspiration if I am ever going to be able to make it through this routine.

When Life Hands you Lemons

We started practice with a speed bump. A talented coed flier decided to leave the team. Thank the lord we have an amazing back up flier, Bri. Bri was my flier on all-girl last year and she is by far one of the most talent fliers I have ever had the pleasure of working with. We took this set back as a challenge in my eyes. We worked hard at practice to learn the new changes and progress forward.

This practice was not going to be a running practice as previously planned, instead we were going to work on the elements of our routine with the new changes. We reped tumbling but nothing really changed there.

First pyramid took up the mass majority of our practice time. Last Thursday we noticed that each side of the pyramid was turning opposite ways; So Carter went and asked Pat which way he wanted us to turn. He returned to my displeasure saying that my side of the pyramid was turning the wrong way. I know this doesn't sound like a huge deal, but after doing rep after rep of turning one way and having to switch gets frustrating. So we had to rep like crazy just to get my side of the pyramid consistent again.

Back to tonight's practice...Molly, my pic (partner in crime) for holding pyramids, decided to ask Pat one more time which side was turning right. You could never guess what he said right? After watching each side do it their way, he decided that we were turning the correct way the entire time. So we had to rep again to relearn our technique. Thank the lord it did not take as long.

 

After this whole dilemma we had to run our side of the pyramid full out. After a while it starts to suck really bad being on the bottom of the pyramid. Mind you I don't have a back spot this entire time. Its just me and Church...and Jessy or Bri now, I'm not too sure. But anyways its funny because no matter how tired you are you need to just keep going. Think about it, if I fall or drop my primary flier, Church, then Jessy will fall. So I need to be on point at all times. Good thing I conditioned myself all summer. I remember the first day learning the pyramid and thinking "there is no way on Gods green earth that I will be able to hold this." That was also the point when Church was doing tap dances on my shoulders and giving me shoe hickeys every rep. For future reference a shoe hickey is a hickey from a shoe... or as my good friend Katie Sakala likes to describe it "if a bear mauled your shoulder like it was made of fresh meat after you spent 10 hours in the Mexican sun with no sunscreen."

Finally we moved onto the cheer pyramid. Which pretty much means break time for me. Well not really I had to work on our rewind stunt, but those are going well. We didn't spend much time on this pyramid today. Carter and Adam's side had a hit though!

Team stunt, to my surprise Bri was put as my flier! I was so ecstatic! We did not spend a long time here either, but each group is improving at a good pace. Even with the new flier switch we made it through the sequence.

Baskets were last. As expected I have to throw the all-girl basket. I really don't mind because Jaclyn is my flier and shes a fantastic basket girl. We did our normal warm up, and by the end we were able to throw our full out elite basket. The first ones were good and by the last one you could see an improvement.

Overall I think everyone had a good practice. We each were frustrated at times but as a team we pulled each other together and had a productive practice. It could have been disastrous being as a person quit we could have all just said screw it and quit too. But that's not the kind of team this is. Everyone who is on the mat is there for a reason, we want to go down and do the best we can do. Whether it be first place or last place. We are going to have more speed bumps along the way but these are the moments we are going to cherish when were down in Florida. We're going to remember the good times sure, but its these times where we had to overcome situations placed in front of us that we have no control over that we will be thankful for. This is when the real journey begins.

PS. Thank you Katie Sakala for the lovely picture!

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Today is my birthday and of course we had practice. Pat walked into practice and warned us he was in a bad mood. I'm glad he did because you know I would have been acting ridiculous. Team stunt went super good for my group today. We hit it full out multiple times. First pyramid was a little shaky. On Thursdays practice we had to relearn how to do our walk in because we were turning the wrong way the whole time. We didn't get to do gymnastics today either which I was bummed about. Cheer pyramid was not that good either. Now that I think about it today was just a rough day for pyramids. At the end of practice Pat said that this was our first "rough" practice, personally I didn't think it was that bad. Then again it was probably because it was my birthday and nothing could make me mad. But he was talking about how he doesn't know how our team chemistry is going to be. When we have rough practices we are supposed to bring each other up and I think we did a good job of it today.

For your enjoyment,

Not a Total Train Wreck

Today was our first day of running our routine and it was not a "total train wreck" like Pat thought it would be. We ran with full out tumbling, first part of the elite, middle layers of our first pyramid, basket timers, and the first part of our team stunt. It went really well! I personally hit all my tumbling, and my group for team stunt hit each time. It wasn't always pretty but a hits a hit...for now. The elite sequence is progressing very nicely also. I was surprised at how easy it was to get through the routine. Then again I only had to do a small portion of what I will be doing. Tomorrow is tryouts for all-girl and Coed and I'm kind of bummed that we wont be a part of it. I love seeing the potential new people for our team. But at the same time I'm living out my dream right now. For those of you who haven't seen a cheerleading routine, here is last years winners of the small coed division Hofstra University.