Breathe in, breathe out. You close your eyes, fixating on your pounding chest. You’ve been preparing for this moment since you stepped off the bus and into National Cheerleaders Association (NCA) camp. Now it’s here, All-American tryouts. “I’ve got this,” you reassure yourself. Your eyes open and you know all your hard work has culminated into this moment.
This was the experience of junior Kiyla Ray, sophomores Evelyn Barcz, Cam Cross, Alyssa Eye and hundreds of other cheerleaders trying to achieve the impressive accomplishment of being named an All-American cheerleader.
To even attempt to become an All-American, a cheerleader needs to be nominated during NCA camp by a staff member. This includes both collegiate athletes and adults that have been in cheer their whole lives. A cheerleader can receive a nomination in the following categories: jumps, motions, tumbling, stunting, dance and leadership. If recognized in any of these categories, the cheerleader will be given a sticker, which can be exchanged for a golden ribbon with the script, “All-American Nominee.”
“I feel that when people understand what All-American is and how hard it is to become an All-American and how anxiety inducing the tryout is, then people will start to respect and understand a little bit more about what cheerleaders do,” Barcz said. “I feel like people need to understand that we’re not just girls who stand in skirts and shake their pom poms. We are probably one of the most hardworking sports.”
The tryout process for becoming an All-American cheerleader is grueling. It starts with three consecutive jumps, followed by tumbling or a spirited entrance and concluding with the All-American cheer taught that year. A cheerleader must earn 23 points to be named All-American. In addition, whoever earns the most points in the entire camp is named Top All-American.
“[NCA] Camp is definitely a difficult experience coming from someone who has really bad social anxiety,” Barcz said. “Being around that many people for that long at a time was definitely kind of hard. But in the end, it’s really fun when you get to spend time with all of your friends. But you have to know that there’s also a really big work aspect of it and [it’s] not just like a summer camp.”
Even the most prepared cheerleaders still feel the intensity of the situation, but it is all about preparation. Cheerleading requires rigorous hours of work outside of practice. This extra work is necessary to continue enhancing their abilities to become a better cheerleader.
Eye’s time spent with Platinum Athletics’ senior 4.2 (level 4 stunting with level 2 tumbling) team, Black Ice, along with senior 4 team, Midnight, helps improve her skill set to bring to the school team.
“Sunday is a crossover; [I do two teams],” Eye said. “So I have three hours on Midnight, three hours on Black Ice, so 12 hours of All-Star and four of Ladue.”
The dedication has not gone unnoticed. With the amount of time dedicated to improving within cheer, it is crucial to establish a balance with all aspects of life.
“You definitely have to find a balance,” Barcz said. “Last year I was so involved with cheer because I was on three teams, it took away a lot from my academics. So I decided I needed to take a step back and focus on myself and school for a little bit. And that’s what I did and I came back and [got] on top of my schoolwork. It’s a lot easier to manage with practices, games and competitions, when you’ve experienced it for at least a year.”
It takes time and effort to find the right balance in life, but having the support of your family – in some cases of a second family (their cheer team) – can make all the difference. When you are a part of a team you grow and bond not only on the sidelines, but in other aspects of life.
“The benefits [of being a Ladue cheerleader] are having people to come to, having a second family, people that understand,” Ray said. “You have people in your school that you know can be there for you.”
The camaraderie and respect shared amongst teammates is unparalleled. They often celebrate together for both group and individual accomplishments. The title All-American is awarded to the individual athlete, not to the team as a whole, but it is still a reason to celebrate for everyone.
“Hearing my name called was like coming up from diving in water where you can finally take a breath. I had been so stressed about it all day,” Cross said. “When I heard my name called for Top All-American, I had my eyes closed and I was crying because I was so just happy to be named an All-American again that I didn’t even realize they had called me until my teammates around me started jumping and screaming.”
Earning her second All-American title and the Top All-American title her sophomore year gives Cross has a very promising next few years. This energy of continued improvement radiates through the team, creating an accomplished Varsity team.
“This year, we [have] achieved an incredible feat of having every member of the varsity team nominated [for All-American], which is really rare to happen at a camp, especially a camp with so many people,” Cross said. “And it shows that we’ve improved a lot from last year, especially in our stunting skills, and we have really bonded as a team. We were so excited to be there and to all get nominated together.”
Despite the varsity cheer team’s impressive accomplishments, they still lack recognition from the school population. However, given their most recent success, there is hope for change.
“I think that we’ll be more recognized because we were one of the [teams] at camp that had the most All-Americans in their entire program,” Eye said. “We were the only program that had all of their varsity team nominated even though we’re relatively small. It shows that we have what it takes to be the best and I think if and when we start doing competitions, we will be a force to be reckoned with.”
