My unforgettable first all star cheer competition

Hi there, cheer fam!

I don’t know about your athlete, but my daughter Laurel is in full-on speculation mode about which competitions we will attend this year. There are a few perennial favorites (hi, UCA!) that she’s hoping to compete in, but we still have a few more weeks before the gym releases the competition schedule. 

As I was sitting in the gym lobby last week waiting for practice to end, I overheard one of the moms who was new to our gym asking about competitions. The other parent was very helpful in answering her questions, but their conversation made me think back to Laurel’s first all star cheer competition. Let’s rewind to summer 2020…

Laurel had competed on a recreational cheer team for two years, and we had a wonderful experience with that program. I will never forget the last day of her 2019-2020 season. The end-of-year banquet took place on March 8, 2020. Yes, I remember that exact date without looking at my calendar, because it was the last social event I attended before lockdown started. I will never forget watching the athletes dancing, eating, and overall having a blast in their bubble of youth, while the parents sat together talking about how scary and uncertain the world felt at that moment. 

We were planning for Laurel to return to the same team in the fall of 2020, but by mid-summer, the gym made the difficult decision not to have a season for 2020-2021 because of the ongoing pandemic. Laurel was understandably devastated at the prospect of not continuing with her beloved activity and being apart from her teammates. During one late night Google session, I discovered that an all star cheerleading gym near us WAS planning to be open for that season. The next day I spoke to one of the coaches, who shared their plans for keeping the athletes safe during practices and competitions. A few weeks later, Laurel attended tryouts and was placed on a Mini prep team for her first year of all star cheer. One of my sons, now a gymnast, also tried out and made a Tiny prep team. We were in!

At the beginning of the season, the gym wasn’t sure exactly how the competitions would play out because of rapidly changing local regulations. Shortly before the first competition, the coaches informed us that:

1. The athletes would compete in the venue, masked, with the judges an appropriate distance from the stage.
2. There would be no spectators in the venue, just athletes and coaches.
3. Awards would be held virtually.
4. Parents were not allowed into the venue AT ALL. The coaches would livestream the performances over social media, and then parents would meet their athletes at the exit.

Well, the kids were just excited to compete, even without an audience. There were uniforms, complete with matching gym-issued BLINGED OUT competition masks. There was a high ponytail and giant bow. There was dramatic stage makeup (sans lipstick). I have some cherished photos of my athletes from that morning wearing their uniforms and grinning from behind their masks. Inside I was little heartbroken not to be able to watch them compete, but it was only because parents couldn’t watch that the athletes could compete at all.

I don’t remember the virtual awards at all, let alone what place either team got. I just remember how happy both kids were to have put on a brand new uniform and show off their months of hard work for the judges. 

So there you have it, our family’s first all star cheer competition story. And- Laurel is now in her FIFTH season at our gym/second home 💙

Veteran cheer parents–what do you remember about your first cheer competition? New cheer parents–what burning questions do you have about your upcoming first cheer competition? Drop a line below in the comments!

Cheers-

Lexie