After we found out who made the junior high football cheerleading squad, the team had to select two captains for the team. Choosing the captains was a maxim because no one was ever a captain before and once you select a captain, you can’t replace them. A maxim is a theory that can’t be tested. I would make a great captain. The girls knew that I had many years of experience as a football cheerleader and as a competitive cheerleader and I’m friends with everyone on the team.
Back in 9th grade, I was selected as one of the cheerleading captains. I was so happy and felt honored to have the position! My goal as a captain was to challenge the girls so that we would all reach our full potential. There were on 12 girls on the team which meant that we were restricted as far as stunting and making a big overall impression. Our goal as a team was to be noticed by our fellow students for being more than just girls who wave their pon poms and look pretty, but as girls who can make a crowd excited about the game and impress everyone with our talent.
A few weeks into practices I noticed that the girls weren’t approaching me like they did before. They used to come up to me and talk about school, but now they barely would talk to me. As I looked back at the past few weeks, I realized that I was being the captain my coach wanted me to be. The coach let the captains take over the entire practice. I maintained the same schedule and work ethic that my coach always did. So what was I doing wrong? I learned that it wasn’t just the girls that needed to approach me, but I also needed to approach the girls. I also realized that I need to change the way I talked to the girls. I wanted them to know that I was still their friend and not an authoritative figure. I also learned that being a leader or a captain is a process. It takes time to figure out the proper way of approaching the girls and influencing them to attain our goal.
After a month of practicing together we went to cheer camp. We were in a cabin together for 5 days and 4 night without air conditioning in the middle of June. We would wake up at 8am for breakfast and be out on the field learning new material by 9am. We had lunch at noon which followed by an hour break. We were back out on the fields for 2 and ate dinner at 6. After dinner we had another hour break and we met inside the gymnasium at 8 and were dismissed at 10. We had very long and tiring days. At camp, each team was responsible for picking their favorite cheer and chant and performing it in front of the whole camp and our parents on the final day. We had 4 days to make up a small routine to impress everyone with only 2 hours a day to work on it. They felt like the quickest 2 hours of my life. My coach asked me to come up with line ups and which cheer and chant to do. Of course I did what I was told, but I asked my fellow squad members as to which cheer and chant everyone liked the best. Everyone agreed on the cheer but people had mixed feelings on which chant to do. We couldn’t decide between two chants when I came up with a theory. I said, “Why don’t we perform both chants in front of the coach and see will pick which one looks the best and most impressive.” The girls agreed. We did exactly that and the coach picked a chant. The coach asked me to come up with the routine material, but I felt that as a captain and a leader that my squad had a right for their input. I also felt that by involving the squad in big decisions such as this one, made them feel more involved and made me feel less authoritative.
We made a routine and impressed not only the camp and our parents, but the entire school when we performed at our first football game. I knew that I would make a great captain. I struggled at first, but realized that leadership is different for everyone and it was a learning process. We ended up having a great season and I learned a lot about leadership and how to communicate with my squad.