Abbi: Confessions of a Cheer Addict

Meet Abbi, a self-confessesed cheer addict and our new BCA blogger. Follow her ups and downs of the 2012/13 season cheering for her university squad and starting up her very own team...

February 2013: Injury strikes

The worst thing that could possibly happen to any cheerleader has happened to me. And I'm not even being dramatic.

It's not that my kit is lost, or my fake tan is streaky, or even that I can't remember my counts (although, admittedly, they would all mean disaster) – I've injured myself. 10 DAYS before comp.

Specifically, I've injured my ankle. Now I'm a clumsy person; I drop things a lot, I trip over, and I've broken approximately five bones in my life time. But without being dramatic (Ok, well maybe a little bit) this was the most painful thing that has ever, ever happened to me.

Lying on the floor unable to move straight after tripping over my dog's ball (yes, that's really how I did it – shh) I genuinely thought my ankle was broken.

So I did what every grown-up, 21 year-old would do. I sobbed like a baby. I made my boyfriend lift me out of the front door because I couldn't hop, and then I cried all the way to the walk-in centre. And then I sat in a wheelchair, made him push me, and cried some more.

But understand this, my fellow cheerleaders. I wasn't crying because of the pain – although obviously that didn't help. I was crying because I knew that if my injury was serious, any chance of me competing would vanish. And the two routines that I'm a part of would be very severely affected if one person was missing. I was crying because I didn't want to let my team-mates down, and I didn't want all of my hard work to be for nothing.

And mostly, I was crying because I really wanted to compete. I wanted that competition high that I haven't had for a year, that terrifying excitement beforehand and complete relief and exhilaration afterwards.

Which is why, when the doctor asked me to explain what I'd done, how I'd done it etc etc – I explained very nicely, followed by: “Buti'macheerleaderpleeeeasecanIstillcompetenextweek?!” Don't worry - I think she sensed my concern. So she examined me, made me do lots of painful things like wriggle my toes and – gasp! - walk, and then finally, finally said that if I rested up and the swelling subsided, I would be fine for competition. I would be fine! RELIEF!

So as I type this I'm resting, with a bath running upstairs and a whole lot of heat rub on my ankle. Sounds like heaven I know, but I'm a restless kind of person and not being able to practice is stressing me out. However, I will happily sit very still staring at a wall for the next week if it means I can compete. If there is a cheerleading God, he/she has definitely given me a second chance at life.

So if you're competing this weekend – look for the girl hobbling around but looking very happy – that'll be me.

November 2012

I need more members! And more rehearsal time, more money…. you get the idea.

So everything is going great, but my two squads are at complete opposite ends of the spectrum. Not in every way – they’re both full of enthusiastic, hard-working cheerleaders who love what they do. But whilst my university squad has too many members, my other squad could definitely use more.

We have about 20, which is great considering we only began two months ago. But I’m ambitious – I want to be amazing. Maybe some people would say my expectations are too high, but what’s the point in trying if you’re not aiming for the best? So at the moment I’m encouraging all my squad members to bring along a friend in the hope that they will automatically see how amazing cheerleading is and join the squad.

Which brings me on to the money situation. It’s really, really hard to do things with no money. I’d love a gym with a sprung floor all to ourselves – but at the moment we have two mats for the whole squad (not even crash mats – I’m talking the small, thin things). I’d love to be able to hire a gymnastics coach to teach the things I can’t, but right now there’s no chance of that happening. I’d love for everyone on the squad to have an amazing uniform and training kit. I’d love to travel all over the country to competitions to show the girls what they will be doing. I’d even love more training time. None of these things are going to happen any time soon.

So maybe you’re wondering why I’m even trying. I’m in my third year at university, I have a lot on my plate already – is it worth it? But the answer will always be yes. I love cheerleading. The buzz I get when I come home from training and everything has gone well is just the most incredible feeling. And when I see any of my cheerleaders getting excited about hitting a stunt, or perfecting a move, or competition, it just makes me feel so proud.

I know what all of the squads I coach have the ability to be, and I know that with time, patience, and a lot of practise – they could be incredible. I understand that sometimes you have to start right at the bottom to finish at the top, and that’s ok with me.

Mostly though, I'm just so proud of my cheerleaders, because even though we don't have the best gym, or the best equipment - we still have an incredible squad. They're so dedicated and enthusiastic and I always want to make them as proud as they make me. That's why when we go to competition I will make sure our routine is completely on point so they can experience that 'comp rush'.

So even without everything that money could bring to the squad, I'm having the best time coaching and loving every minute.

Still, if anyone wants to help a girl out, I'm not about to refuse…

October 2012

My name is Abbi, and before we get any further, there's something you all should know: I am a cheer addict.

As they say about addictions: I never saw it coming. It crept up on me suddenly, and what started as something to go alongside my main hobby of dancing took over.

It started about a year ago when I decided to join my university cheer squad. Now, I'd seen all the American films and TV shows. I was pretty sure I could get on board with the cute uniforms, hair bows and happy dancing - but throwing and catching girls my own age? That, I wasn't so confident about. Still, I'm a girl that likes a challenge, and before long I was actually doing all those things I thought were impossible. Basket tosses? Pfft, easy! Full extensions? Piece of cake! I was a bona fide cheerleader.

Now I have to admit something - it took me a long while to actually enjoy cheerleading. I mean, it was ok. But it wasn't something I thought about outside of practice. I didn't spend hours thinking of new stunts or trawling the Internet watching videos like some of my fellow squad members. Still, I persevered and went to all of my practices in the hope that I’d begin to love it.

My first year of cheerleading went pretty quickly, and before I knew it, it was the week of my first ever BCA competition. It flew by in a blur of four-hour practices each day, injuries (eek!) and countless run-throughs. We arrived at the competition on the Friday, and straight away I loved it. The atmosphere was one of pure excitement and adrenaline. Seeing so many different squads all together was incredible, it was exactly like all of those American films I’d seen! When the time came for us to step onto the mat and do our routine, I was terrified. I’ve done dance exams and shows, but I don’t think I’ve ever felt as nervous as I did at that moment.

I don’t remember much about the two minutes we were performing, but I remember the feeling straight afterwards so clearly. A feeling of relief, adrenaline, excitement and pure ‘ohmygoshthatwasamazing!’. I felt so close to my fellow squad members; nothing defines teamwork quite like cheerleading. Your first competition is such an incredible, memorable day and, as tacky as it sounds, I believe that it’s what changes a squad from friends or acquaintances to a makeshift family.

So the girl that didn't enjoy lifting adults with her bare hands, getting kicked in the face by many a flyer and having countless hot baths to try to stop the aching the next day was suddenly converted. More than that - I became obsessed. I turned into one of the other girls on the squad that spent hours watching cheer videos. I was fascinated by the routines of the best squads at Worlds and became desperate to be even half as good as those cheerleaders.

So this year, after a long and boring summer of no cheerleading, I've done something that I never expected to do - I've become a cheer coach. Not only that, I've also set up a squad outside of University.

The past month has been a whirlwind of recruiting new cheerleaders, teaching things I myself didn't know how to do last year, and - hardest of all - trying to remember how to do everything after 3 months off!

Freshers week at Uni consisted of wearing my kit pretty much every day (don't worry, it's been washed now!), recruiting, fundraising, recruiting, stunting in random places (spare bit of grass anyone?!) Oh, and more recruiting. We've been training for a week now with our brand new squad members and I'm so excited about the year ahead. We have some really talented and hard working cheerleaders and I really feel that this could be our best year yet.

As for my new squad, everything is going great! We already have around 20 members and their enthusiasm at such an early stage is infectious. They put me to shame!

So yes, I am addicted to cheerleading. It has it's bad parts, and many of them: there's hardly ever a training session that I don't end up bruised, it takes a lot of dedication and hard work, you don't always end up being the flyer that everyone's watching, and things will go wrong. But it's the best fun you will ever have. Your team mates will become your best friends and second family, you'll accomplish things that, to the outside world, look virtually impossible, and the feeling after you step off the performance mat at competition is indescribable.

So for anyone considering picking up some pom poms - You won't regret it. Just keep an eye on that addiction.

Follow Abbi's cheer season right here on the BCA website, she will be updating her blog regularly. If you think you'd like to be a BCA blogger, simply email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .