I Did Cheerleading in High School and It Wasn’t All Glamorous
I did cheerleading my junior year of high school. I remember trying out the second time around and made it to the junior varsity squad. I thought it was everything I planned, however, I realized it wasn’t like the Bring It On movies I adored throughout my childhood.
I remember my first day of practice. The junior varsity squad was practicing with the varsity. We laughed, danced, and performed like we were on the sidelines supporting the football team; asking each other if we wanted to do a jump together; getting our names called, and smiling out to the crowd. It was like we were family, but it didn’t go that way. Several were competing to outdo each other. The night we performed in front of the coaches and parents, both coaches spoke to all the parents in a group meeting and the varsity coach excluded me out of everything. “The team [AND BOY] will be practicing at different times,” the varsity coach said. Everyone in the room stared at me. That’s when the bullying began.
The varsity coach talked down and humiliated me on a daily basis. She thought I was not “performance ready,” and I needed to practice more to be like the varsity team. Because I was the only boy on the team, I was targeted to drama every day. I felt I was never good enough. After the season ended, a member of the varsity squad went and gossip to the coach that I called her a “bitch” while pretending to be my friend. Then, several members ostracized me after the incident and made side remarks on my techniques. I emailed and tried to confront the coach about the incident, but she made every excuse to avoid speaking with me. The varsity team did not want me to apart of them. So, I decided to not tryout ever again because it was a never-ending battle with them.
Over the years, I keep reflecting back on my time as a cheerleader, especially after watching the Netflix docu-series Cheer. I binge-watched the show in one day and realized that my time as a cheerleader in high school wasn’t rewarding. I loved wearing the uniform and performing on the sidelines, but I was miserable trying to please people. I tried to make amends with them, but they used my kindness to get what they wanted and throw me away. Even when I supported the poms team, they did the same thing.That’s when I had to realize that I had to make myself happy and do things for me.
This was not the environment I needed to be in for myself. I was happy that all the drama ended when I graduated high school and I still think about the great memories I had on the team, but I wish all of what I went through could’ve happened in a different way. And tell my younger self, it’s not you, it’s them.
