Victory

We were all holding hands huddled together. Our hearts were pounding out of our chests waiting for the announcer to come on the microphone. We knew our team performed the best they ever had, giving it their all and nailing every stunt and all of their tumbling passes. However, there were two other teams who had also done an amazing job and we knew only first and second place could advance to nationals. It felt like we were waiting on the mat for an hour! Finally, the announcer came on and congratulated all of the teams for getting to this point and working so hard. The crowd wailed and the girls holding my hands squeezed even tighter. The woman announced 5th place, then 4th. I had a lump in my throat and started taking deep breaths. I knew that if we weren't announced for 3rd place, then we were on our way to Disney World for the national championship. She paused for a moment, which again felt like forever. Then she said, "Third place goes to the Berlin Bears." All that raced through my mind at that point was how proud I was of the 21 girls that made up our team for all of their hard work, dedication, and commitment over the past four months. We spent countless hours in the gym preparing and practicing for this day. The team and coaches worked extremely hard.

The announcer then said that the next two teams would advance to Disney World for the national championship. Again I took a deep breath. She announced that second place went to a team from Massachusetts. I was shocked. Their team was so good that I knew it was going to be a close finish between first and second place. And then the big moment. Inside, we were all cheering because we knew we had to have taken first place. Then the big announcement, "And going to nationals with the title of Pop Warner Regional Champions are- The Wolcott Eagles!" I can't explain the feelings and emotions we all had when hearing that. The girls were going crazy and the parents were even crazier in the stands. I knew we had a lot of fundraising, planning, and packing to do over a short period of time because the competition was the following week.



That was my first experience of coaching cheerleading five years ago. It was an incredible way to start out, and I learned so much that year. At nationals we came in third place in all of the United States-not bad for a team that started off being the underdogs in the begining of our season. I chose to write about the regional competition because it was the most exciting and close competition we had. All three teams were neck and neck and we were so grateful and appreciative for the opportunity to represent New England in the national competition.