First competition

Wow, it's been a long time since I blogged!

Well, we won the first competition.  No biggie: we were the only parent team entered.  Still, we did OK (You can see the video here)

I couldn't believe how much I was shaking, though.  The nerves were really bad.  I was worried that I might actually drop a flyer I was so bad, but I made it through.

Next competition is in three days, and again they've changed a whole lot of the routine.  I'm pretty confident I know the steps and the timing, we'll see.  And there are 2 other parents teams registered, so this will actually be a competition!

10 days...

... until the first competition.  We did three full run-throughs tonight, with music, and it's looking like we're not going to totally suck, so that's good.

I was away last week from practice (silly job!), and they changed a fair bit of the routine for me, because someone else has quit and so other places needed to be filled.  I think I've got it, but I wish it would stay the same two weeks in a row!  (They promised not to change it again before the competition.)

One more practice...

ready to go...

well, no, we're not.  But we know the entire routine that we'll use at the first competition in three weeks.  And it looks like I can do it all, so that's good....  

It's been a rough week at work, and having this release is great!  

At the beginning of the year, each of us were asked to name three goals we wanted to get by the first competition.  I said a solid double base, a dive roll and a round off (fairly modest goals, I admit, but I knew it was only a couple of months away...).  Tonight I got my round off, I think my double base will be solid enough by next week and my forward roll is solid enough that I'm ready to try the dive roll soon, too.  yay me!

Did it!

So I did the stunt holding the flyer on my own, and I can do it!  Yay me!

Unfortunately, our flyer was away this week, so I didn't get to try the double base tonight.  But we did do a two-base-group stunt, the other groups' flyer falls into our cradle, then we pop her back up to their double base, and I did that OK.  So I think there's hope for me.

I'm having a blast, this is so much fun.  Our first competition is november 8th, although the coach suspects that we'll be the only parents' team there.  So next week we'll learn the spoken cheer portion, and that will be it for that competition and we'll add more later.  

Ultimate pride, the best you'll see!  Excellence, perfection, UCC... Stray Cats!

Not easy!

I was asked to base for the first time tonight. I did OK, t great, but my wrists just weren't supporting the weight as we lifted.  I mostly just need more practice, I think...

I've also been asked to be a base for a stunt, I lie on the ground and put my hands together over my chest, elbows locked, and another woman steps into my hands with one foot.  There's someone behind her to help her balance, but basically I have to hold her for about 14 seconds.  The catch is that she wasn't there tonight, so I was just going through the motions and I'm worried that I won't actually be able to do it.  I'm going to try with my daughter tomorrow and see... if I can't hold up a 70 lb child, there's no way I can do an adult!

Learning the routine

First "real" practice of the season last night.  We learned the first 32 counts of the routine, and it took over an hour, and we still haven't done the whole thing together with the stunt lift.

But it was fun!

Signed up, and paid

So I guess it's going to happen.  I've actually started to mention it to people.  For a while it felt like a dirty little secret, don't tell anyone or they might laugh at me.  The responses have been interesting.  My mom talked about how glad she was, that she always felt that when I was younger I'd chosen to do quiet things (piano lessons) rather than the more physical or social things (my sisters were in figure skating and dance).  A friend mentioned what good exercise it must be: you do flexibility, cardio and strength all in one.

I still haven't mentioned it to any members of my church, though.  Something odd about the pastor as cheerleader, especially when I'm a woman under 40 and fairly new to my parish and still trying to reassure them that I know what I'm doing and can be taken seriously.  As far as the sport may have come, as a sport, I'm not sure it's yet overcome the bimbo stereotype!