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Anti Gravity Cheerleading
The following letter to the Editor appeared in the The Signal
(Santa Clarita Valley newspaper)
Editor:
I was never considered a great athlete when I was in high school. I played some football and baseball and had the pleasure of being on a couple of descent teams that made it to various local championship games. Nothing too earth shattering or worth keeping newspaper clippings. The main think I'll always treasure was the experience of being on a real team. Forget the trophies, forget the athleticism. Teamwork. It's a lesson that I've been able to draw upon time after time, year after year.
I have three children, ages 20, 17, and 10. Until now, not one has had the luck or privilege to have such a unique experience. The focus in kids' sports these days seems to be primarily on the "win," or the individual. In order for kids to hope to be competitive at the high-school level of any sport, it seems you must get them involved in "club" sports at a very early age or they get left behind. It's great to see kids getting involved at an early age and to see the diversity and the talent blossom in some of these kids, but my wife and I have been reluctant to buy in to the club concept ... until recently.
To make a long story short, our 10-year-old daughter, Breanne, enrolled in a tumbling class at Anti-Gravity in Valencia and quickly advanced to the point of trying out for the just forming Anti-Gravity Elite Junior Cheer Squad. She made the team along with 18 other girls of varying degrees of ability and training. (Last) weekend in Las Vegas, in their fourth competition as a team, they won first place in their division for the first time. Not earth-shattering, not worth keeping the clipping (except for the parents, maybe), but I am certain it is an experience she will never forget. And not just because of the win. It was the teamwork.
When these kids first started out, there were some -shall we say- personality conflicts; some concerns over the abilities of several girls (as in, "That one's going to hold us back"). As time went on, due in no small part to the excellent coaching of Michelle Wolfe and under the watchful eye of gym owner Christie Hayes, these kids learned that with teamwork and mutual encouragement, they would all benefit. They may not know that's what they've learned, but it has become evident that it's what they practice each time they work on their routine and each time they work out together at the gym.
It might be luck, it might be the coach it might be the girls or perhaps we were just in the right place at the right time, but it is an absolute joy to see these kids work together. They help each other; they give each other honest, helpful (and accepted) criticism at appropriate times; they cry for each other when someone gets hurt.
Oh, and a word on the "sport" of cheering. They have a saying around the cheer squads: "If cheering was any easier, they would call it football." These kids come home with more bruises, bumps and scratches from slamming into one another than I ever had in high school football. And they work out as hard as any session of "hell week" I ever had. They have spirit in the most righteous and rigorous sense of the word. They are truly athletic. They are a determined group that knows how to mix the work and fun in the ideal proportions.
The Anti-Gravity Junior Elite Cheer Squad won in Las Vegas. They think they brought home a trophy. Some day they will realize they brought home much more.
Scott Ervin
Valencia, via the Internet (
www.the-signal.com)
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