
Our school had a legacy of winning competitions. We had several state championships under our belt, and an entire community of support rallying around us. In my senior year, we sailed through our conference and regional competitions, once again making us eligible for the state finals.

Our team was the first in school history to add a synchronized back tuck into our routine. We perfected the timing and landing of that difficult skill throughout the season, giving us a great shot at the state title. Our tight-knit group of twelve seniors was ready to fight to the end with the rest of our team in our last chance for the reigning title.



Some of the lessons are obvious. Life isn’t fair. Hard work isn’t always measured by awards and trophies.
I was intimidated by her at the time, which is probably why she was such an excellent coach. But now, I have come to a whole new level appreciation for her devotion. The amount of dedication and sacrifice it requires to bring teams to the state finals year after year is exponential.
While our team was completely absorbed in adding one more championship to our repertoire, she subtly taught us that there was a bigger picture in life. She took the time to handwrite individual cards to our 30 team members and gave them to us at our Christmas party.
She wrote to me, “The thing you need to remember is that these are skills you’re trying to accomplish – they don’t determine who you are inside.”

At the time, I did think that my skills determined who I was to a certain extent. And maybe it took placing second in the biggest competition of my life to realize that my identity went beyond “Grandville Cheerleader.” To be forced to move on to bigger and brighter things.
I have always wondered why my wonderful coach still comes back year after year and why she devotes her life to teams who may or may not win the state championship.
I see now that it has less to do with winning and more to do with shaping lives. Teaching young women about responsibility, hard work, dedication, team work, and pushing beyond natural limits.
All of my keepsakes and newspaper clippings from that all-consuming chapter of my life are now condensed into one manila folder.


And that life goes on.
8 Comments
I think this post is so fun! I can totally relate to you–I cheered and competed as well. It was such a fun time and honestly when I look back I have such great memories of thsoe times with the squad, Those long long intense practices brought us so close to each other. We were the first squad from our school to compete at varsity level after about 10 years of no one competing from our school. We learned a lot and sadly we learned that from some point deductions for some silly things that shouldn't have even mattered! Oh well. Your video was so fun and your routine for sure looked awesome and flawless! What fun times!
Nashy, I've never been able to quite sum up how I felt about cheerleading, that state finales, the experience in general, I could never put it into words. But you just wrote out so beautifully exactly everything I felt.
You have to send this to Julie, I bet she would love to read something like this to her team.
I know what my life lesson from that day was. Julie was sitting right by me when they announced our name as Runner Up. I was frozen. I sat there and put my head in my hands. I didn't stand up, I started crying.
Julie looked at me, with a knowing smile on her face and said, "Get up Kyle, it's not the end of the world." Those words are burned into my brain.
Life isn't fair. But there's not much we can do about it. Except pick ourselves up. And move on. Because it's not the end of the world.
You can put your heart and soul into something…and sometimes it's JUST NOT ENOUGH. That was a painful discovery to make that day. But I know that being a part of the GHS cheer team and the girls on the team and the coaches and the whole thing really helped shape who I am today and for that I'll always be grateful.
Even though I wasn't ever on the Varsity team I was in the stands for that moment. This totally brought me back to moments on Freshman and JV. For some reason all I could focus on was the feeling of almost puking after every round 3 was done. A mixture of nerves and being so exhausted. No workout since then has ever compared to the pure exhaustion after round 3! This is Nickie Chapin by the way 🙂
I could write volumes about that day and also all our experiences with Grandville Competitive Cheer. No, it wasn't fair that Rochester won despite a fall, but your team was still gracious, showed good sportsmanship, and stood tall. As you so eloquently wrote, your awesome coach and team mates taught you life lessons and qualities which you will always carry with you.
I often think about how I wish I could go back and tell my high school self that it wasn't the end of the world when competitions or games were lost, boyfriends broke up with me, or girls were mean. If I had only known then that the joy and triumph I would feel when I married in the temple, gave birth to my babies, or watched them take their first step would far surpass any of those high school "victories." Maybe that's why I loved being a YW leader so much. I know there is no way you can really know until you've moved past that stage of life, but I loved trying to help my girls understand that!
What a beautiful post, and so fun to read about a chapter in your life that I know nothing about. I'm so impressed with the things that you've done and the way you always find the lessons. I think you should do these reminiscing posts more often so I can know your whole life history 🙂
I was reading your current blog since I follow you on Instagram now and at the end of your last post I noticed this one that it said I may also be interested in. I most certainly was! It has been years since I watched that video. I had chills through your whole post. Came close to tears during the video as it brought back all those emotions. Your post was indeed spot on! Loved it!
Glad you found it, Jill. I still get chills when I watch the video too. And even after all these years, that loss still makes my blood boil a bit. Thanks for stopping by – hope you are doing well!