by Daring Diane
From gymnastics, Lee liked the tumbling runs where the athletes would run from one corner towards the other, and do cartwheels, hands free tucks, flips and land on their feet.
Lee designed a routine where they would have an imaginary square on the field. Four girls would stand in all corners and run towards the middle doing a combination of routines timed so that they would all pass each other without anyone hitting someone else. Darby loved the idea. They discussed whether it could be done with eight girls including one on each side instead of just the corners. The runs would be shorter, but could be designed for the length of the run. Lee suggested they perfect it as a circle on the field with different routines for half the pairs and then see if the groups could be combined into one massive routine. Darby agreed and they set about choreographing the routine.
Lee then explained the spin routines where one girl would spin holding another girl. They discussed the girls on the squad and decided that the holders had to be the bigger girls and the smaller ones would be the ones in the air. Lee wanted to get two full rotations and have the pairs do the action at the same time.
The girls were excited about Lee’s ideas. Lee and Darby had the girls practice the tumbling routines along with cheers they could call out while in the process. They worked the routine timing and then tried it in formation. By Friday, the performance routine was looking pretty good. No one watching could really tell what they were doing. Sylvia knew they had devised a new timing pattern different from last week. But, she did not have time to figure it all out.
Throughout the week everyone wore their matching practice colors. It made the squad look like a unified unit and she was impressed with the idea. In her meeting with Lee, she asked him about the matching practice outfits. Lee explained that it was an idea that had come up in discussion. Then all the girls talked about it and decided as a group what they wanted to wear and when.
At the end of their meeting, Sylvia handed a collared shirt to Lee. “Lee, I want you to wear this coach’s shirt to the game on Saturday. People should realize that you are part of this effort. The girls asked me for a solution and I think given your success in helping to round out the squad that you should wear one of the coach’s shirts. These shirts are worn by coaches for cheerleading, track, cross country and swimming. The football and basketball coaches get special shirts and coats. This is an extra one we had around. The coaches typically wear black shorts with their shirts. You can just wear a pair of the workout shorts. As a coach, you want to look like you are working out even though at the event you are often simply an observer of the success or failure of your efforts.” She laughed at the last remark.
Lee laughed along with her. “Okay. I just don’t want to take any of the credit away from the girls. They are the ones doing all the hard work. It is their squad.”
Sylvia smiled, “You just keep saying that and keep doing what you are doing. I am very proud of what your squad has accomplished and this shirt represents my determination of what your role in the squad has been. You may not be on the field. But you are a key member of the squad. And they are lucky to have you.”
Lee was comfortable that everyone had the routines down. On Saturday morning, he and several of the girls worked on the spins. They had decided it was not for this week. They would utilize aspects of last week’s routine, blend in the tumbling routines and end with the school cheers. Lee’s most important focus was on timing and consistency. He knew the tumbling run would only look really good to the crowd if all the girls crossed in the middle at the same time.
Lee took Coach Steiling’s advice and wore his black workout shorts and one of the practice shirts. He wore the coach’s shirt on top. It was a white polo styled shirt with a gold collar and placket. On the left breast there was a picture of the school mascot the name of the school and underneath it said ‘Cheerleader Coach’ in bold letters. Lee was very proud of the shirt. It was made of a soft cotton and was very comfortable. Lee had all of the buttons undone.
When half time came, the junior squad ran onto the field. They performed many of the basic moves and simple cheers from last week. They then separated into the three groups and performed the hand walking, back walkovers and handstand routines from the prior week. Then 8 of the girls spread out in a large circle using the lines on the field to set their location.
The girls started from the number one location and each did a tumbling run one after the other. Then the people in one and five ran at each other and did an identical routine passing in the middle. Followed quickly by two and six, three and seven and finally four and eight.
The crowd was already cheering when finally all eight girls ran towards the middle at the same time. The identical routines were timed perfectly and all the girls crossed in the middle. The crowd was standing and cheering. The girls then performed a couple of the normal cheers the school had used for years.
The girls left the field to a standing ovation. The varsity squad was clapping and yet asking themselves why they did not do a similar routine.
Sylvia was so proud of the girls and all they had done. And yet, she was stunned that the junior team had done something very unique and something she had played no part in developing. It was simply amazing. She could not stop clapping and found that she even had a few tears running down her face. The girls all hugged each other and then the entire squad mobbed Lee. Lee felt such satisfaction and fulfilment in the success the girls had that he was unable to speak. He wanted to savor the moment.
On Sunday afternoon the girls planned a typical short training session. They were delayed in starting as they all continued to give Lee a large amount of the credit for their success. Lee tried to tell them to congratulate themselves and that it was a team effort.
When it came time to start practice, the girls all lined up to begin stretching. Marcia was there like she was every day. Moments after they began another girl joined the crowd. It took a few moments for Lee to realize the Sylvia was standing with the girls and stretching.
Lee stopped and asked, “Miss Steiling, you should be up here with Darby and me.”
Sylvia smiled, “That’s very nice of you Lee. I typically work out with the varsity team. Today, I am here to see how out of shape I am. Or maybe, I am here to see how your squad compares to the varsity squad. I hope I may learn to do some of the moves you guys are doing that I have not been able to do myself in the past. I want you to carry on as if I am just one of the other people on the squad today.”
After stretching and working on a few timing routines, they began practicing the spins. Lee was very careful in spacing people out and worked with each team individually the first time. Sylvia was very impressed with his hands on approach and his focus on safety. The session ended having the girls do the timing runs they had used on the field on Saturday.
Sylvia was not able to do the hand routines and was not as familiar with the tumbling runs. But, Lee, Darby and the other girls worked with her. Having watched the routine, she quickly knew most of the moves and needed to work more on the timing. In the end, Sylvia was worn out.
The girls found some exciting treats and drinks when they were done practicing. Sylvia had delivered several bags of items to Sally when she arrived. As everyone consumed the snacks, Sylvia plopped in a chair and looked at Erin and Sally. “Your children are in amazing shape. They have knocked the snot out of me. I don’t know how long it will take for me to recover. I know I said it before. But, Lee has some kind of gift for understanding the routines and devising a rigorous training routine. His squad, and it is his squad was amazing last night. I have to figure out how to get the varsity team to get with the program. I’m here looking for insight. It seems silly that I am looking to freshmen students for the insight I need.”
Sally and Erin thanked her for her compliments and agreed that they had no idea why Lee and Darby were so good at these things.
As the girls were sitting around Darby told Lee that the girls had decided that Friday was going to be go
ld day from now on.
“Darby, I don’t have gold shorts. I’m not sure I’m comfortable with that.”
Suddenly all the girls said, “Awwwwwww, isn’t that cute. Lee doesn’t have gold shorts.”
Something came flying through the air from the back of the group hitting Lee in the side of the head. All the girls were laughing. Lee picked up the bag. It had a gold pair of cheer shorts, gold cheer panties and socks with a gold rim.
The girls continued to laugh as Sylvia said, “Well, I guess they solved your problem. What is the story with the gold shorts?” Sylvia asked.
Darby explained that they wanted to have a color everyone could have to wear during the joint practice to set themselves apart from the varsity group. There were not enough girls with the same color. When they saw Lee’s coach’s shirt at the Saturday game, they all decided gold was the color. This Friday, everyone would be wearing gold, including Lee.
Chapter 6 – Week Six
On Monday afternoon, Lee waited for Darby to come out of the locker room. They walked together out to the field where the junior cheerleaders practiced. As Lee called the squad to order and began their stretching, a group approached from the side. Darby tapped Lee on the shoulder and pointed to the second group of girls. Kelly, the captain of the varsity cheerleaders approached with Miss Steiling.
Kelly stopped a few feet away, “Lee, I’m Kelly. I know we haven’t talked before. I’m sorry about that. We, the varsity squad, were wondering if you would mind if we joined your practice session. We were really impressed with your routines on Saturday. We hope to learn from you guys and maybe we will have something to contribute. Would that be alright?”
Lee looked at Darby and then at the squad. “I am not a cheerleader. I was just asked to help. This is their practice and their squad. If it’s alright with them, then it’s okay with me. What do you think ladies?”
Everyone cheered ‘yes’ in unison.
Lee suggested that Kelly and Sylvia stay near the front. He then had the varsity squad intersperse with the junior squad so they could assist with anything unfamiliar.
The group restarted stretching and then began some simple tumbling exercises. Lee and Darby led the group through what had become their first 30 minutes of basics. They did a call off session on all the basic cheer positions.
Next they began practicing front and back walkovers in a timing exercise. They had to first explain to the newcomers the exact form that they had selected for performing each of the moves. Then they explained the timing methods. At the end of practice, Lee asked Kelly to work with them to practice all of the regular team cheers. Kelly was thrilled to feel like there was something she had been doing right.
Monday and Tuesday less was accomplished than the last few weeks as they brought the other girls up to speed on their practice methods and their routines. They all agreed to run practice a little longer to cover holes in the two groups training. All of the girls were worn out after practice each day.
As practice began on Wednesday, Kelly pulled Darby aside, “Okay, when will you tell us the secret to coordinating the colors. You guys look like professionals in team uniforms and we look totally out of place.”
Darby laughed. “I’ll have to ask the squad. We actually started doing it to separate ourselves from the varsity squad. We wanted to make sure we looked good. Sorry.” She finished a little sheepishly.
Kelly could understand the desire and asked Darby to talk to the squad. She wanted to work with Darby and Lee to develop a more cohesive group. She also didn’t want infighting. Darby assured her it was no problem.
Darby and Lee talked about it after practice. Lee suggested that they talk to Miss Steiling to get her thoughts. The two of them dropped by Sylvia’s office after practice.
Darby explained their discussions and the unified clothing planning the girls had adopted. Lee said, “Even if we practice together, the varsity squad is a different group. Can we do something so they are consistent but can be separated from the group?”
The three of them threw around a few ideas. One idea was for the varsity squad to wear a different colored shirt. But it was too late in the season to buy new shirts. Another idea was to have the varsity group wear one color of shorts and the junior squad wear a different color. Lee then suggested that they get two colors of headbands. One color for the varsity and the other for the junior squad. Most days everyone could wear the same colors and on days when activity demanded that the varsity squad break out, everyone would wear headbands to distinguish the two groups.
Sylvia was fascinated by how the discussion had taken place, and how in the end they all three felt like they had jointly come up with a solution. Yet, in review, she realized the unique solution was from Lee. Sylvia said she would order the headbands.
Sally was talking with Erin over coffee like they did almost every day. “Erin, I have a question for you. I’m not sure I should tell anyone. But, I need another person's opinion. Over the last couple of weeks, I noticed something strange. When I am doing the wash, Lee has no longer been sending down any of his briefs or boxers. I mean in the last week, there have been none. All that comes down are the panties I bought him for cheer practices. I figured he’d wear them for practice and dive back into his regular underwear as fast as possible. Should I talk to him about it?”
Erin shook her head, “Do not talk to him about it. You’ll probably embarrass him. Kids are so stupid sometimes. Who does he think does the wash? He probably likes the feel of the underwear better than his old underwear. I say who cares?”
Sally nodded, “Well the problem is silly. I didn’t buy him enough of the cheer panties if that was all he was going to wear. What should I do?”
Erin smiled, “What would you do if you decided you didn’t have enough panties in your own drawer?”
“I’d buy more.”
Erin’s smile grew larger, “It’s a reason to go shopping. I love shopping. Let’s go.” Sally joined her smile and the two of them headed out to the store.
After his morning shower on Thursday, Lee pulled his underwear drawer open. He stared at the drawer. Previously, his 5 or 6 pairs of cheer panties were secluded on the left side of the drawer. He had been wearing at least two pair a day since he had to shower after his workouts. But this morning, the left side of his drawer had easily 12-15 pair of the same cheer panties. But there were a lot of new colors. There were more of the basic colors so that he had at least three of the colors that matched his shorts. But then there were several other colors. His mom had added more underwear to his drawer. In fact, it looked like she had removed some of his older underwear. He smiled as he picked a pair of light blue panties to wear today. He grabbed a red pair, socks and his red shorts for practice. He noticed a couple of new shorts in his drawer. He was not sure he wanted to wear orange or lime green shorts. But the light blue might be something he could wear on the weekends.
After eating breakfast, as Lee left to get Darby, he said, “Mom. Thanks for the new undies. I guess I was going through my short supply pretty fast.”
Sally smiled and kissed her son. “I was happy to get them. There was a sale so I got some new colors for variety. Let me know when they start to wear out so I can get you some replacements. Whatever you want to wear is fine with me. Remember, I love you. And, no one should be seeing your underwear. So, who cares?”
Lee headed out to school with Darby. He was glad his mom had not made a big deal out of the underwear.
Lee had fallen in love with the cheer panties the first time he wore them. At first he was reluctant to wear them to school. The first time, he thought everyone could tell. He was sweating all day long expecting to be bullied or sent to the principal. But, nothing happened. It was different than wearing underwear with a fly, but he quickly got used to simply pulling the panties down in front when standing up to relieve himself. Within days, he hardly noticed the difference in the bathroom. But, he loved the feel of the underwear all day long. He would be sitting in
class and remember his underwear. He thought about the secret he was keeping from everyone, even Darby. It gave him a secret thrill.
Eventually, Lee simply wore the cheer panties all day long seven days a week. He changed after practice and a shower. Every day he wore at least two pair of panties. It was like a secret adventure. Lee loved the way his pants slid along his panties which was very different from when he wore cotton underwear. Again, it gave him a thrill.
Thursday afternoon, at practice, the merged group did their warmups together and walked through the basic cheer positions. After some fundamentals, Kelly took over so that all the girls could work on the cheers needed for this weekend’s game. The plan was to let the junior team do the half-time routine and then join the varsity squad for several cheer sessions in the second half.
Lee and Darby started working on the half-time routine for this week. They wanted to add variety to the routine. While they planned to do the eight point tumbling pattern again, Lee wanted to change some of the aspects of the routine. After all eight girls crossed in the middle, they would do a half pattern back into the middle. Once there, they would pair up and do the spins out to the edge of the imaginary circle.
Lee talked to Kelly and Sylvia and explained that for the next game after this weekend he wanted to end the half-time routine with a joint exercise which included both the varsity and junior cheerleaders. Kelly and Sylvia were excited to hear what Lee had in mind. Even in just a few days of working together, Kelly found herself excited about what they might accomplish as a group.
On Friday the entire junior squad showed up in their new gold shorts. The varsity girls felt left out. After some good natured kidding, the girls told the varsity squad what the color choices were for each day. They explained the headbands which would arrive the coming week.