by Dana Burkey
Rolling my eyes at Connor, I was going to tell him that I didn’t need him to stay. But then I remembered our time practicing with Greg during our skills class all winter. Working on tumbling passes and even standing tumbling was easy enough to do on my own. But Connor was always great to have on hand to encourage and even push me. So, I quickly changed my mind, accepting his offer. Sure, the main reason I was staying was to help Leanne, but I also knew it would be a good time for me to work on my skills as well.
“Ready to get started?” Leanne asked while walking towards me with a less than happy look on her face. She seemed to brighten when she saw Connor was sitting with me as well, but only by a little. I had the feeling she wasn’t thrilled about putting in more work after the long practice.
“Let’s do this,” I nodded in reply to Leanne’s question, standing up and quickly setting my phone with my backpack. “We should warm up for a little, I’m thinking. That way I can also see what skills you have and how we can get them to the next level.”
“Sure,” Leanne said quickly, then walked over to the long and skinny trampoline.
Taking a few running steps, Leanne easily performed a round off back handspring before ending in a back tuck. I watched the series of skills, trying to see any weak points. It was clear that she wasn’t getting much height on the tuck to end the pass. She repeated the move a few times, occasionally keeping her legs straight, turning the back tuck into a layout. Each time it was clear she wasn’t getting high enough off the trampoline to do additional moves like a full. The rotation during the backflip required more time, and that was only achieved with a bigger bounce going into the motion. Not to mention she was sure to get even less height on a spring-loaded floor as opposed to the trampoline track.
“Are you just going to watch the whole time?” Leanne asked after performing the same tumbling pass yet again.
“No, I’m just thinking,” I explained. “I think you need to bend you knees a little more after the back handspring and really push off with your arms more.”
I could tell she was a little confused, so I stepped onto the track and showed her what I meant. It was hard for me to end the tumbling pass in a layout, since I was used to finally doing fulls. On Blast and Fuze I was limited to only back tucks or layouts, so being on Nitro and getting to end with a full was beyond exciting. Going back to not throwing them, however, was an instant downgrade in my mind for sure.
After I showed Leanne twice she tried again. Bending her legs worked some, but I could tell she didn't really have the strength behind the move to get enough height. So, it was back to the drawing boards. First, we tried to add in another back handspring to help her get height, and then a whip before the final layout. Both helped some, so I decided it was time to try something harder.
“Let’s work on your full for a little bit,” I suggested, walking to an extra long air mat that led to a large pool like area filled with foam blocks.
Over the next hour, I went over the twisting motions of a full with Leanne time and time again. I could tell she was struggling with them, mostly because she wasn’t getting her body to twist around fast enough. The foam helped though, since if she under rotated she was still landing softly and safely. Even with the foam to land on, however, I could tell she was getting frustrated.
“Why don’t we stop for now and pick it up next week,” I finally decided right after Leanne failed at doing even a back tuck. It was the first time I had ever seen her make a mistake of that level, so I knew she must have been exhausted. She basically just did a back hand spring and then flew backwards, unable to get her body going into the next motion. That kind of an error was referred to as ‘balking’ in the cheer world, and I could tell Leanne was upset the second it happened.
“This sucks,” she muttered, clearly upset at herself.
“You did really great up until that last one,” I assured her. “It takes time to learn something like a full.”
“How long did it take you?” she asked.
“Max has leg strength from other sports,” Connor interjected. “And she’s shorter than you, so it’s a little easier for her. It took me a whole month to get my full.”
I was thankful Connor was there more than ever in that moment. If Leanne knew that the first time I was at the gym I almost landed a standing full, she likely would have had some not so nice things to say to me. Instead, she thanked Connor for his comment, as if he has been the one helping her the whole time. While in reality, he was sitting and filming or taking pictures while we worked so we could show Leanne her progress or how she needed to change her body position. It proved to be a big help, even if she didn’t manage the full by the end of our time practicing.
“I’m sure you’ll get it next week,” I encouraged. “Or if you want to work again on Friday I can stay after again. And I’ll be at the open gym.”
“I’ll let you know.” Leanne moved to stand close enough to Connor that her arm at her side was all but touching his hand as well. “Want to walk out with me?”
“Not today,” he replied with a shake of his head. “I’m going to do some tumbling while I’m here. I got lots of rest while you were practicing so I figure I might as well work on some things.”
“Okay,” she said slowly. “Text me later?”
“Sure,” he nodded, then turned back to face me. “You staying, right Max?”
“Absolutely.”
Only half aware of Leanne making a frustrated noise before turning and walking out of the gym, I headed to the air mat. Despite already making it through a full Nitro practice and the extra tumbling work, the idea of practicing my kick double suddenly gave me lots of energy.
I was more than thankful that Connor asked me to stay and work with him. As much as I wanted to, I didn’t get to work much while I was helping Leanne. Sure, I got to do a full here and there to show her how it should look, but it was nothing compared to what I was able to work on once she was gone. Time and time again I was able to race down the air mat and launch my body into the air. Progress was a little slower than usual, but before I knew it I was getting the height I needed for the skill I was hoping to achieve.
“Ready for the kick double?” Connor asked after I had done a few double fulls and kick fulls.
“I think so. But just on here. I don’t think I can land it on the floor yet.”
“Not this week at least,” he joked, before taking off to throw a pass of his own.
I took a deep breath, then decided to try the move Connor had suggested. I was on the air mat, which was better than the spring-loaded floor but also not as helpful as the trampolines. It would give me a good understanding of whether I was actually ready to try the skill on the blue cheer floors. After building up some speed and height I went for it, kicking my leg up before snapping it back down before spinning my body hard to the left. Once I finished the second twist, I planted my feet on the ground, and only had to take two small steps forward. It wasn’t a perfect landing, but was the best I had done so far.
“Told you,” Connor laughed. Ignoring him, I took a long breath then turned so I could try again running in the direction I had just come from.
I continued like this for a while, trying the kick double over and over until I was getting enough height on it to almost spin my body around another half of a twist after the kick. After every try I was aware of Connor glancing my way, clapping, or even commenting on how good I was doing. I paid attention to all of this only slightly. The rest of my focus was on building my confidence to try the double full on the less helpful spring loaded floor. It was still more of a boost than normal ground, but would make everything a little harder. Feeling like it was a “now or never” moment, I grabbed a sip of my water before heading to the open cheer floor closest to the foam pit to give everything a try for real.
“You can do this,” Connor called out, taking a seat at the edge of the mat to watch. He again had his phone out, and I knew he was likely filming me once again.
I wish I could say that I ran, threw all the skills including the kick double, and landed perfectly on my feet. Instead, I did my usual font punch, round off, followed by a back handspring and a whit. Then, I attempted the kick double, landing on my feet only to pitch forward onto my knees. It wasn’t even as good of an attempt as when I tried it at the assessments to kick off the new cheer season. But, it simply fueled me to go again. And again. And again. Connor eventually gave up filming, although he still sat to watch and encourage me the whole time. I stayed determined through all the attempts, but none of them was landed on my feet without falling or taking steps off the mat, at the very least. A few of the attempt also ended me sitting on my bottom or bouncing my knees hard onto the blue floor beneath me.
“Okay, I’m done,” I finally frowned after once again falling backwards to sit on the mat, despite only trying a simpler kick single.
“Ready for me to walk you home?” I opened my mouth to protest Connor but he continued. “If I don’t walk with you, I have a feeling TJ will make you call your dad. Even after all your flips I’m sure he’s still worried about you biking home alone after that fall earlier.”
“You’re probably right,” I said with a sigh. “I really feel fine though.”
“I’m sure you are,” he nodded. “But it was a super nasty fall. I was surprised one of you didn’t break something.”
“Well, not for lack of trying,” I laughed. “If I hit her face any harder, I have a feeling I would’ve broken Juleah’s nose.”
Connor agreed, explaining that it was pretty scary to watch. He was across the mat when it happened, and was upset knowing he couldn’t do anything to stop it. Apparently, a few of the bases that were closer to me tried to help. But in the end, no one could help me but Juleah. Sadly, her attempt caused her face to be nice and bruised, and still left me feeling pretty shaken up overall. The one thing that helped was reminding myself that it really could have been so much worse. Just last season a flier on Fuze took a tumble and broke her collarbone. It allowed me to join the team for Summit, but meant an end to that athlete’s time cheerleading for the time being. There was no word if or when she could return to the gym, something that would crush me despite my initial hesitation to join a cheer team at all.
“Max!” voices screamed from across the room, freezing both Connor and myself in our places.
We had just grabbed our bags and began walking through the gym. Flame was practicing on the mat closest to the gym door, and there was a group of super tiny girls learning the basics like somersaults and the ever important “cheer face” on the next mat over. Thankfully outbursts like the one that made Connor and I pause was rather common in the gym. So much so that no one else seemed affected by it all.
“Hi,” I managed in reply before I was all but tackled by Halley and Lexi who had raced towards me immediately after calling my name.
“Are you okay?” Halley asked.
“Why didn’t you go home?” Lexi also asked at the same time.
“Nice to see you guys too,” Connor joked.
“Let’s go outside,” I suggested, letting out a laugh as both girls began to apologize to Connor.
“Okay, tell us everything,” Lexi demanded as soon as we made it outside. “You’re okay, right?”
“How did you even know I got hurt?” I asked in reply, still confused as to why they were at the gym.
“Juleah posted a selfie on Instagram,” Lexi explained.
“And then Connor posted a snap that you were working on tumbling despite your ‘really bad fall’ earlier,” Halley continued. “That’s how we figured you were here and not at home.”
“So I asked Matthew about it, and he agreed to drive us to the gym,” Lexi finished, then pointed to where Matthew was sitting in his Jeep across the parking lot.
“They were freaking out,” he called out to us with a bit of a shrug.
“I’m fine, really,” I told them yet again. “Juleah got hurt way more than I did, and even she was okay.”
“Well, since were here we might as well give you a ride home.” I wasn’t sure if Lexi had checked with Matthew before she offered, but since he was still sitting in his car waiting I assumed it was an idea they all came up with together. “And we can give you a ride too if you want Connor.”
“Sure,” he agreed, then began removing my bike from the wrack where it was waiting.
“We also may or may not have brought our swim suit so we could hang out in the pool at your house too,” Halley explained as we walked towards the waiting car.
“Perfect,” I smiled, then turned to Connor. “If you want to swim too I know we have extra swim trunks in our laundry room.”
“Or we can stop by your house,” Matthew call out, having heard the conversation.
“Either way works for me,” Connor shrugged. “As long as we get out of the heat soon.”
I nodded, climbing into the back seat with Lexi and Halley as Connor climbed into the passenger seat after loading my bike into the back. We debated the options for a little, and in the end decided to stop and get Connor’s suit before heading towards my house. It also allowed us to stop and get ice cream at the Dairy Queen down the street. As we pulled out of the drive through I text my dad that a few people were coming over and he of course asked about my head. That gave me the warning that I was due for a long checkup once I walked through the front door.
“You haven’t felt dizzy or nauseous at all?” he asked both after shining a penlight into my eyes and making me follow his finger from side to side without turning my head.
“Nope,” I replied. I was a little annoyed, but also knew my dad was just worried about me. “I did extra tumbling after practice and just felt a little sore overall. But I think that’s partly because of how long practice was today.”
“If you start to feel anything, even a headache-”
“I’ll let you know right away,” I finished, cutting him off. “Promise.”
For a second it looked like my dad was going to press the issue but then he simply gave me a hug, a kiss on the forehead, and went back to slicing fruit. He had a variety of snacks started when we got to my house, most of them were much more healthy than usual. This was more than likely an attempt to put things good for me into my body to counteract any damage caused by my fall. Whatever the real reason though, we were all thankful for a bite to eat, followed by a long and relaxing time in the pool. I didn’t swim as much as usual, since the long day at the gym was catching up to me and I was starting to feel tired. Well, that and I also kept seeing my dad peeking out the back patio door make sure I wasn’t suddenly struck dead or something equally as dramatic.
“So, did you ever land your kick double on the mats?” Lexi asked as we all sat on deck chairs after finally getting out of the water.
“How did you know that’s what I was working on?” I asked in reply, only partly because I didn’t want to admit my failure at landing the skill.
“Connor’s snaps,” Halley said simply.
“You posted my tumbling?” I turned to face Connor who was sitting on the other side of me talking to Matthew about a zombie show they both watched.
“Yeah,” he slowly replied. “Didn’t they already say they saw my posts earlier, and that was how they knew we were at the gym?”
“Maybe,” I answered, my voice not so sure. “I guess I didn’t know you took videos of me and posted them.”
“I can delete them if you want,” Connor quickly offered, searching on the table next to him for his phone.
“No, it’s okay,” I said, reaching out to take his phone. “As long as they don’t look too terrible.”
With both Connor and Lexi watching over my shoulder I flipped through the videos that were on Snapchat, and the few that were still only on Connor’s phone. All in all, I was pretty pleased with what I saw. Although I never landed solidly on my feet, my form for the kick double looked good. From the look of things, I just needed a little more height. Eventually, my muscle
s would be so used to the skill I would be able to do it in the sleep. Much like how easy it was for me to do back handsprings and even a standing full.
Handing Connor his phone back finally, I leaned back in my deck chair and smiled. “I’m landing that kick double at the open gym Saturday. Mark my words.”
The day by the pool with my friends was great, but left me exhausted. Between the fall, the extra tumbling practice, and then hours of laying in the sun, I was ready for bed nice and early. I almost felt bad for not inviting Lexi and Halley to stay the night, but I knew I wouldn’t be much fun at a sleepover. They understood, especially since we were planning a girls’ night at Lexi’s house on Friday so we could all go together to the open gym the following morning.
Knowing I was going to need all the practice I could get to land my kick double, I spent Thursday working out just as hard as if I was at a Nitro practice. I swam laps, went for a run around the neighborhood, and then did a long core workout. This included a lot of time balancing on a homemade stunting stand doing flying poses and a lot of squats to get my legs ready to really push off for the height I needed. The extra workout was exhausting, but made me feel even more confident about my skills at Friday’s practice. However, when I walked in the gym doors I immediately noticed someone was missing.
“Is Scott really gone for good?” I asked Matthew and Emma after we were done with our 3 mile run. Until then I assumed he was late and would be entering the gym at any moment. But, as more time went by, I began to realize he wasn’t going to be there.
“You didn’t hear?” Emma asked, looking both shocked and kind of sad. When I shook my head, she continued. “TJ told him he was going to be an alternate since his skills weren't quite there for Nitro or Detonators, so he left the gym. He’s trying to get into a few different gyms in Dallas, so hopefully he will still get to cheer this year.”
“Oh,” I managed, feeling instantly terrible.
“It’s not your fault, Max,” Mathew assured me, wrapping one arm around me. “He didn’t quite have the tumbling skills yet, and he hasn’t been basing that long either. Out of all the guys he was the one that we all kind of knew was going to be leaving the team anyways. It’s just a bummer it took you and Juleah getting hurt before it became official.”