by Dana Burkey
“There you are!” a voice called out just as Connor was finishing putting the number on my back. Before I could even brace myself, Lexi was all but tackling me in a massive hug. “I’m so excited right now!”
“For what?” I asked before I thought better of it.
“The whole weekend,” Lexi said as if it was the most obvious answer in the world. “Camp is my favorite thing all year. Well, other than NCA! And I’m sure Worlds will be better, but I still I won’t get to find that out for a few more years.”
“I just wish I knew what all we were doing,” I commented honestly.
“I heard tonight and tomorrow afternoon we have squad time, so we can be ready for Sunday,” Lexi explained. I was thankful I knew that when she mentioned Sunday, she was referring to the showcase performances.
“Even if that’s true, we still have a lot we don’t know about,” I said with a sigh.
“Isn’t it exciting?”
I just nodded slowly, realizing that Lexi and I had very different definitions for the word ‘exciting.’ Glancing at the clock, I saw it was just a few more minutes until we were going to get started, so I suggested to Lexi we go find a seat over where Nicole and TJ were preparing to make announcements. Connor stayed by my side, and I was glad for that. I still didn’t know him well, but I felt like, thanks to all of my time with Peter and Kyle, I probably had more in common with him than anyone else in the gym at that moment.
As we made it to the mat I saw that there were a few other girls from Blast sitting and waiting for everything to kick off. Anna, from my stunt group, gave me a little wave from where she sat talking to a group of girls all wearing the pink TNT bows. We chose a seat in an area that was open enough for us to sit with plenty of room, although the space was quickly filled in. There were athletes in every color of uniform sitting all around us in a matter of minutes. Connor turned to me and looked like he was going to ask me something when Nicole began clapping up front.
She did the same rhythm that I instantly remembered from the open gym that had first brought me here. I listened closely as everyone around me did the repeat rhythm before Nicole tried it once again. The second time I was able to more or less get the claps correct, but still made sure to do it lightly in case I was off. No one around me seemed to notice so it looked like I was in the clear.
“Welcome to TNT Cheer Camp 2015!” Nicole paused while everyone in the gym yelled and clapped. I clapped along, just barely resisting the urge to cover my ears and block out all the loud noise. Someone was doing a high pitch whistle that was louder than I thought possible. “We want to start things off with something fun, so we need everyone to get up and spread out. It’s time to dance!”
I stood up and looked around as everyone spread out around two of the gym mats and stood waiting. When I looked back to where Nicole and TJ were, I saw that Tonya was there instead, now standing on top of a large stack of gym mats that lifted her up so we could all see her. Without so much of a pause to make sure people were listening, she began going over dance moves. Since I spent the last cheer practice tumbling instead of dancing, I found the moves difficult. Around me, however, I noticed that everyone seemed to be getting the moves easily. Even girls that were clearly younger than me were easily mimicking the moves Tonya was showing us to perfection. I focused even more on Tonya’s motions, determined to get them right so I didn’t look like I totally stood out.
“You don’t have to look so serious,” Connor mentioned, nudging me playfully with his elbow.
“These motions are all really weird,” I frowned, trying an arm motion that seemed both rigid and flowy at the same time. “I can’t move my body like this.”
“Try having fun,” he suggested. “Don’t take yourself so serious and sometimes it can help the moves come a little bit faster.”
“Really?” I asked, doubting his words immediately. “But I haven’t done stuff like this before.”
“That’s okay,” he assured me. “Just try to have some fun with it, and eventually you’ll get it. We’ll be doing this same dance every morning and in the evenings to give us energy before games and activities. You have the whole weekend to get it right.”
On the stack of mats, Tonya was done showing the moves and was leading the group through the whole section a few more times. Although the dance was only 10 eight counts long and made of a few repetitive movements, it was still hard for me to get used to. We ran the whole thing three times before Tonya reached over and turned on some music to go with the dance.
“I love this song!” Lexi announced hopping up and down. I recognized it as a boy band song from a few years ago. I had heard it on the radio once or twice, but I didn’t know the words. Lexi seemed to know what I was thinking and added, “Don’t you just love One Direction?”
“This song is fun,” I said in reply, not really making a statement about the group one way or the other. We played the song through the whole first verse and chorus, doing the moves a few times over. By the last time I felt like I almost had some of it right, but would still need a lot more practice.
After trying the dance a bit more, we all finally took a seat and Connor leaned in and told me, “I can help you later. You’ll be great at it in no time.”
“Thanks,” I smiled with a sigh of relief. Sitting down on the mat, I watched as TJ climbed onto the stack of mats to make sure everyone could see him. I was thrilled since I knew it meant the dancing was over, at least for the time being. I didn’t know exactly what was still to come, but as long as it didn’t involve more dancing, then I was in.
“I need to see you ladies hustle right now,” Nicole called out, clapping her hands in time to the music's beat. “We only have you for 10 more minutes, but I want to run it full out one more time.”
I wiped the sweat off of my face and jogged across the mat to my spot going into the pyramid section. It was hard to imagine, but looking back at the dancing, I was suddenly wishing I was doing that instead. But, at the same time, it was fun to finally see what the routine looked like. I didn’t realize it when I was at practices over the two weeks leading up to camp, but I had learned all of the elements of the routine. Now, knowing we only had one or two more practices to polish the transitions before the showcase, the pressure was on to get everything right.
“You got this Max,” Anna said in my ear as I prepped for my heel stretch at the start of pyramid.
“Nice and easy,” Halley said behind me just before spotting me as I was lifted into the air.
I held my heel stretch then bent my knee and held my foot over towards Lexi so she could hold it as she also lifted her leg for the girl to her left. It was only the start of the sequence of moves we all did, but from there it got more complicated. People were popping every which way, down one second and then back up the next. It was a little confusing when I tried to watch everyone else, so instead I just focused on what I was doing and tried to match it to the beats in Nicole’s clapping and the music. The music was basically just numbers and counting put to upbeat music, and as Lexi explained, it was going to be the music all the teams would use until closer to the start of the competitive season. After trying to hold a scorpion, a pose where I used both hands to hold my foot to the back of my head, I lost my balance a little and instead settled for holding my left leg back and making a sort of ‘T’ with my arms in a move called an arabesque. Thankfully the arabesque came after the scorpion in the choreography, but I was still mad I had only hit one of the moves. It wasn’t the first time I missed the scorpion, and like always, I was frustrated as I did a twist while falling down into the arms of the stunt team below me.
“Way to stay in the air,” Halley said to me quickly before we moved to our next positions to get ready for the dance and my tumbling. I appreciated her always trying to build me up, but felt bad for once again not hitting the scorpion.
A few minutes later I landed my back tuck and turned out to face where the coaches were standing, freezing into my final position. Ba
sed on the look on both Nicole and Greg’s faces, I had a feeling everyone was in their spots as well. It was a small thing to celebrate since I knew a few people had messed up on their tumbling and at least two stunts didn’t stay up in the air. But, I thought all of us ending in the right spots was a small but still important victory to note. Greg even called out a, “Good job,” right before telling us we all needed to go back to the top and run through it all one more time. Once again I could only hold my scorpion for a few seconds before losing my balance and once again dropping into an arabesque. I couldn’t seem to keep the frown off of my face as we finally exited the mat to get water.
“Can I borrow you for a second, Max?” Greg asked after I picked up my water bottle. With a nod I walked over to stand with him on the mat. “You’re doing amazing out there. Don’t let little things get to you.”
“Thanks,” I replied, not really feeling like I deserved to be complimented for still not getting the scorpion.
“I’m serious,” he tried again, seeing through my fake smile easily. “You need to work on your core a little more, but you’ll have it in no time. For now, just hold the arabesque.” I nodded and turned to walk away when he added one more thing that had me smiling for real. “You’re not the only one up there in the air just doing the arabesque. But you’re the only one still trying that scorpion first every time just in case you land it.”
As I walked over to sit on the mat and drink more water with Lexi and Halley, I listened to Nicole explain that the locker room was open for showers if we wanted to take the opportunity to get cleaned up. We only had half an hour until we were scheduled for t-shirt making outside, so most of the teams decided to sit and hang out on the grass by the parking lot until we needed to be ready to go. I thought about heading off to shower, but from what everyone else was saying, most people didn’t shower until right before bed since we were likely going to be running around and sweating all evening. So, instead, I checked my phone to see if there were any important updates from my dad before turning to go outside.
“Hey, Maxine,” Nicole said to me. “I’d really love to have you stay for a little longer and watch Bomb Squad for a bit.”
“Okay,” I shrugged, following her to the mat next to us where a group of girls with TNT in pink on their tank tops and matching shorts stood. I didn’t bother correcting her on my name since she was likely never going to stop calling me anything but Maxine, no matter how many times I told her to call me Max.
There were two other teams still practicing in the gym. One was a junior team in grey and the other was a senior team in pink. Another team in lime green was also preparing to take the mat where Blast had just finished practicing. They had just left the tie-dye station we would be heading to soon, the stained colors on their hands showing the recent craft project. More teams would also be coming in to take the mats and get their practice in before our next scheduled activity. I sat down next to Nicole and TJ to watch as the pink team began a run through of their routine using the same music I was used to hearing at Blast practices. They were only a few eight counts into their routine before my jaw dropped open.
I watched in awe as the girls on the mat not only did tumbling complete with fulls, they were also tossing girls up higher and faster than I had ever seen up close. Watching Leanne flying was one thing, but this was girls throwing other girls just as high as Connor and Matthew had. And, as they started their pyramid, they not only flipped people in the air, they were flipping girls higher than normal so they would soar up and over other girls also being held up by stunt groups. It was the first time I had seen a pyramid from a senior team in person, and I was impressed to say the least.
“Wow,” I said to myself once the routine was over.
“That could be you one day,” TJ said, pulling my attention away from the mat. “Most of these girls were on our junior teams at one point or another, just like you.”
“I didn’t know they could do all this stuff without guys holding them up,” I admitted, watching as the team re-set to run the routine a final time.
“Not everyone can base for a team like this,” he explained. “But when we get girls that can fly really easily or base even in harder stunts, then they’re put on this team right away. These ladies won NCA two years ago and missed first at Worlds last year by less than half of a point.”
“They’re really good,” I said, hoping that the fact I didn’t know terms like NCA would be ignored. “How old are they?”
“The little one there with red hair and the tiny blonde over there are both 15,” TJ said while pointing. “They’re the youngest girls. We usually try to keep the 13 and 14 year olds on small co-ed or even our large co-ed since they can be thrown high enough to do kick double-kick doubles when they get enough height. Nicole and I wanted you to see them and maybe chat with some of the girls during camp. They’re level 5, so not too much above the skills you’re working on landing now. You’re showing amazing skills, especially considering you’ve only been cheering for two weeks, so this team could be a good fit for you before too long.”
Thankfully I didn’t have to respond since the girls set up to run the routine one last time and the start of the music made everyone watching go silent. Well, everyone but Nicole who yelled out corrections. When they were finished and grabbed water, I thanked TJ for letting me watch, then went outside to find the other girls from Blast. They were just getting started on tie-dye since the stations had cleared of other teams. I was quickly given a shirt and a few instructions. Apparently we were going to tie-dye them so they could be washed and dried by morning and we would decorate them for the showcase. Uniforms, I learned when I asked, wouldn’t be in until closer to the start of the cheer season at the end of October. It made me happy to know they hadn’t ordered me a uniform just to have me quit once camp was over.
“What were you doing inside?” Halley asked me while I wrapped more and more rubber bands around my still white shirt. The team had decided to use mostly red for the tie-dye to match our team color, but I wanted to make sure the design was going to be cool all the same.
“Nicole and TJ had me watch the team in pink practice,” I explained.
“That’s Bomb Squad,” she informed me. “They’re amazing. My sister was on that squad last year until she went away for college.”
“Are you going to be on that team one day?” I asked, realizing I didn’t know exactly how old Halley was.
“Maybe in a few years,” she nodded. “I’m hoping I can make it onto a junior 3 or 4 next season and then either move up to Bomb Squad or at least get onto Fuze for a season and then move up after that. I have a while until I age out, so I can take my time getting onto Bomb Squad.”
“You really love cheerleading, don’t you?” It was kind of a silly thing to ask, but I was suddenly interested in hearing what it was that made Halley like the sport I was still so conflicted about.
“Of course!” she beamed. “I started cheering when I was 4 after I saw my sister doing stuff in the backyard and at competitions. And as soon as I joined the gym here I felt like I wasn’t just a part of a team; I felt like I was part of a family. My sister was here so that helped, but everyone else became sisters and brothers to me too. Everyone just really seemed to care about me and wanted me to do my best, so it pushed me to get better and do everything I can to always hit routines and be the best base I can be.”
“Did you ever fly?” I asked, trying to imagine Halley at the gym working on cheerleading at only 4 years old.
“Nope,” she said with a shake of her head. “I’m not light enough to fly, and I don’t really have the flexibility to do a lot of the stunts. My sister was a flier when she was on junior teams, but she was a side base or a back base for a really long time too. Some people might think it’s lame to not be a flier, but I just like being a part of the team and working hard to get the whole routine to hit and be perfect.”
Anna and a girl whose name I was quickly informed was Torrence, walked o
ver and joined our table, cutting off our conversation as they went on and on about the plans they had for their shirts. I guess it was the one time they didn’t have to have TNT on the front of the shirts, and it was a competition for the best design, so people were getting pretty into it. There was talk of adding a lot of glitter glue and gems, so I tuned everything out and focused on getting my shirt tie-dyed as best as I could.
“What do you think?” Torrence asked, catching me off guard. “Do you think we should cut them into tank tops or leave them as shirts.”
“Oh,” I paused, trying to think. “I like them as shirts I guess.”
“See,” Anna said to Halley, as if my vote had tipped the scale in her direction. “And we can put the paint on the back to look like an explosion.”
Having missed some of their conversation, I didn’t know if saying anything else would be a good idea or not. It was hard to think about, and make comments about, something I was new to. Things like cheer, and glitter glue, and creating t-shirts for a design contest. I could imagine my dad telling me to try to help out the group and come up with something, but the only thing I wanted to come up with in that moment was a way to leave the weekend camp early. Considering even shirt designs made me feel left out, I had a feeling it was just the tip of a massive iceberg.
Wringing out a sponge into the bucket at my feet, I raced back across the field towards where my team was waiting. We were in the middle of a relay match, and my group was finally getting ahead. It was the first time all day I was truly having fun, and wondered if part of that was because I had ended up on a team of mostly boys.
“Awesome job Max!” Connor grinned, giving me a high five.
“Thanks,” I breathed, tired from my sprint.
One at a time we were tasked with filling a sponge in a bucket then racing through a series of obstacles before wringing the sponge out into another bucket across the large field that was right next to the cheer gym. I was on a team with Connor and Matthew who were both in teal, Jake and Paul who were wearing lime green, Sarah and Nick who were in orange, and Morgan who was wearing pink. The teams were chosen by the numbers that were on our backs, and would be the same teams for the games all evening. The relay was only the first of what was sure to be a long night of competitions, based on the equipment that was piled up on the sidelines of the current game.