Ready, set, cheer

Jasi Gates, a freshman at Memorial High School, is devoted to competitive cheerleading, which involves cheer, tumbling, dance and stunting.

Waiting for the phone call between tryouts and team placements makes for probably the longest week of any cheerleader’s life. This past year, I tried out for the World’s Team at Texas Lonestar Cheer Company, and the wait was unbearable. All Star Cheerleading, which involves cheer, tumbling, dance and stunting, has been a part of my life since I was 3. I began at Texas Lonestar Cheer Company when I was 7, and from the moment I walked into the gym and saw Team Red (the World’s Team) practicing, I knew that, one day, this was the team I would join.

I often have to tell my friends, “I can’t. I have cheer.” I spend 5 to 7 nights a week in the gym practicing to make my dream a reality. I practice with my team in addition to coaching a special-needs team called The Lonestars. Plus, I am a member of Team Texas Cheer, who raise funds and run in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. I don’t have a lot of free time.

Anyway, the call finally came, and this past season, I was a member of Team Red. We had several goals to meet in order to secure a place at The Cheerleading Worlds. Cheerleading is a team sport, and due to the time spent with the team, you become family. A world’s team must earn a spot at The Cheerleading Worlds. We worked long and hard and, at Cheer America Nationals in Houston, earned our paid bid.

We traveled to Disney World in April, and the park was overtaken by thousands of cheerleading teams and athletes from all over the world representing their countries and their gyms. I was so proud. Each team has 2 minutes and 30 seconds to show the judges a routine, which includes choreographed tumbling, stunting, dance and cheer, and hope that all of their training pays off with a zero-deduction routine. Team Red advanced to finals and finished seventh in the world. My team and coaches are my home and my family away from home. Now off to prepare for the next season.

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