Not just school spirit, but the kind of spirit defined by Merriam-Webster as "a vital principle held to give life to physical organisms".
20 girls and 2-1/2 minutes to perform perfectly. They don't have time outs. They don't have half time or instant replay. There isn't a referee. It can be a blood sport. There are injuries...broken noses, black eyes, dislocated parts, abrasions, blisters, swelling, nausea, sprains and a thousand aches and pains.
Tonight is the eve of the 2010-2011 South Carolina High School League State Championship for Competitive Cheerleading. We have traveled 200 miles to represent our High School in the 2-A Division.
The "vital principle" of Spirit is everywhere!
From the parents, coaches, choreographers and volunteers....
To the strong and determined Warrior team members....
They ARE champions!!! They win in the category that counts: character.Today and then later this evening, they loved one another, encouraged one another, upheld one another and affirmed one another.
They also walked down a street with twinkling lights,
to eat a celebratory dinner at "Sticky Fingers", and then there was MORE celebrating, speech making and gift giving.
I noticed that there was also a lot of hair twiddling....
NOTE: Hair "twiddling" is exclusively a girl thing.From the time I was a young girl, cheerleading has gotten a "bad rap"....In all the years since then, I haven't been able to come up with a fair reason why that is true.
In the past 5 years, I have come to know, understand and respect the sport of competitive cheerleading. It is a little bit of cheer, a little bit of gymnastics, a little bit of dance, a little bit of pageantry and great deal of athleticism and SPIRIT.
The kind of spirit that pushes you to go on, to reconcile, to try harder, to pull yourself up and then help the other person up.
I am inspired by these young women and tomorrow, I will be wearing my Warrior colors with pride....and cheering them on!
~J
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