September 16, 2022 • 40 mins
This week on Beyond the Megaphone, Cassidy and Nathan discuss the many differences between High School and Collegiate Cheerleading. They discuss the importance of how to prepare for college recruiting and clinics, share some stories of their craziest clinic experiences, and give their opinions on what it means to be a leader in their social environments. Listen to all and more in Episode 2: Cheer - Let's Talk About It.
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
Beyond the Megaphone is a production of I Heart Radio
and the College Athletes Network. Hey everybody, this is Cassidy
and this is Nathan. You're listening to Beyond the Megaphone
on the College Athletes Network. Please subscribe to the podcast
so you never miss a new episode. This can easily
(00:26):
be done via the I Heart Radio app. You can
find me on Instagram at Cassidy with a double y Nie.
You can find me on Instagram and Twitter at our
Nathan Paris Cool. Bam, Hey, cass how are you? Um? Okay,
all right, Yeah, you're gonna talk about some cheer always.
(00:49):
I'm gonna do Spanglish from now on. Okay, So we're
gonna talk about what I feel like a lot of
people are coming to our podcast for a k a.
The process of high school cheer to college cheer and
what that all looks like the future cheerleaders of America. Yeah,
America needs cheerleaders. So starting with senior year, uh, because
(01:16):
I feel like that's when it really gets down to
make or break it. Moment Um, I'll talk about my
senior year, what that looked like a combination of the
past in the present. Um, So I my senior year.
Football season I senior year. I did competition cheer and
(01:37):
I did school cheer. I cheered for football season, and
that year actually was the year my high school team
went to Nationals for the first time. So my winter
season was pretty intense. UM. But football season, you know,
it was okay. I was getting the flow of things.
I only had UM all star competition three days a week,
(01:59):
and then I had games on Fridays. Obviously, high school
practices were here in there, but um, for the most part,
I spent the beginning of the fall semester of my
senior senior year looking for every clinic in their mother
to go to. I was. I knew I wanted to
(02:19):
fly because there's absolutely no way that I could base
at the college level. UM, but I didn't have the
experience that I felt like I needed to be able
to be confident enough to try out as a college flyer.
So I literally signed up for every single clinic I
went to combines. I went to n A A school, like,
(02:39):
what's the word, I'm looking for prospects an ai A clinics. Sorry,
I forgot what clinics was for a second. Anyways, I
went to any clinics. I went to um i U clinics.
I went to produce clinics. I went to so many clinics,
um so i's always spent a lot of that time doing.
(03:00):
And then yes, this was in the fall. I went
to a lot of fall clinics. I didn't I got
to go to one spring clinic. But then COVID hit. Yeah,
So my senior year I literally spent each sleep breathing.
Cheer school was a factor obviously in there, but like
for the majority of it, I was this was my goal,
(03:23):
this is what I wanted to do. I put every
last dying breath I had into trying to be a
college cheerleader. So we had so you had um college cheer,
prep school cheer, and competitive chair all the same time. Okay,
so how did that even happen? Um A lot of
(03:46):
finding the time, Well, it wasn't. I wouldn't even say
finding the time, just making the time for myself. The
time was there. I just had to plan it out
in a way where I wasn't so incredibly overwhelmed with everything. Sure,
what were something like the tips and tricks of you know,
making sure you know that okay for next two hours,
(04:08):
it's going to be more school cheer and then later
time I'm gonna be working on some competitive cheer, like
how did you keep your mind about you? You know
when going from thinking So I would have like school
chure practices a lot of the times on days when
I didn't have All Star cheer practices, which was to
my luck, but also I did have days where I'd
go from school cheer to All Start cheer. But on
(04:29):
the days where I didn't, I would I wanted to
be in the gym every day. That was something that
I wanted to do. So I would after my All
Start practice and my All Start my school cheer practice ended,
I would go to my All Star gym and they
would be practicing, and I would go there find a
little corner work on the skills that I knew I
needed for uh college cheer. I would work on my
(04:50):
standing tumbling, my renting tumbling, even if I had the skills,
just getting the reps in and making sure their picture
perfect to a t I would spend you know, two
hours there, come home. I would limit myself to leaving
nine and then go home. Um. When it got to
winter time though, that's when I started doing a lot
(05:12):
of nationals prep for my high school and then you
know that's the height of All Star competition time. Yeah,
so I gave every last bit of energy at every
single practice. I put in so much work. I would
come in early, I'd stay late, UM, just so I
could get the reps in the confidence I needed for
(05:33):
that particular season, whether it was you know, school chair
where all Star, UM, I don't a lot of the
college prep kind of died down at that point because
I was really focused on that. UM. But that's as
their competitive season too, So yeah, it is competitive season.
And even at high school clinics, a lot of the
(05:54):
college recruits go to high school competitions. So I've been
recruited out of competition before for high school because you know,
they're looking for college athletes to um, they'll go to
the competition. So, I mean, it's just a matter of
being on your game day or your A game. Every
time you go, being on your game day, you know,
(06:15):
your game day, Ye're a version of being on your
A game. So basically what we're hearing is you wanted
this from the moment you know you got into senior year. Yes, yeah,
this was It was not never a question on whether
you were going to cheer in college or not. This
was something that you were just like, this is my thing,
(06:35):
I'm gonna do it. I knew, no matter where I was,
no matter how small how big the school was, I
was going to cheer there and I would make that
my goal until it happened. Um So a lot I
knew going from clinics in the past that you know,
once you're a senior, that's when they coaches really pay
attention to you, and obviously like are looking for like
(06:58):
more attention towards you because you're a senior. UM So
my junior year in below clinics, I cared about them.
I did try at them, but also I knew when
I got to my senior year, like those clinics meant
the most and I made the most impact on them
because I was a senior UM So every clinic I
went to, I just really wanted to be prepared for
(07:18):
uh no matter what the school was, I was on
my A game. What's really cool about coming into cheer
in college is like I never had to experience all
these crazy commitment um levels in high school, at least
in cheer obviously because I wasn't in cheer later and
so what I find and from your stories is you
(07:41):
gotta want it, you know, and this is not something
that you know you can kind of do haphazardly and
then just kind of hope it works out. You're either
all in or you're all out. And I think that's
great because it it kind of makes everyone who is
a part of the program obsessed with your right, Like
the everyone's commitment level is on tent the entire time. Um.
(08:03):
So like what I would say, and this is this
is with any sport in high school, right, Um. Growing
up in high school, I was planning on playing college ball. Uh,
college baseball. So like you said, it's year round. It's
not just your school season. You have travel ball, you
have lessons, you have private instruction. You know, you buy
into this completely, um, because it'll be worth it on
(08:25):
the other side. Right, So, you know, the best advice
that I could give, um, two people looking for college
here is buy in completely. Buy in. UM. If you
know that there's a specific school that you want to
go to, buy into not only that school, but buy
into the culture of their program. You know, um, because
it's a big deal and it's fun and it's so
(08:45):
great to fully invest yourself into something and then see
that come to fruition on the other end, right, you know,
that's what makes it all worth it. Um. So you know,
don't be afraid to be obsessed with this one thing.
If it's your thing, go for it. That's what I
would say. Um. You know, these recruiting processes are not easy.
They're not supposed to be easy. If it was easy, ever,
(09:05):
I would do it. But that's what makes the other
side that much sweeter. Yes, um Uh. The one thing
I will add on to that is I think I
was like on one even more just because I went
to a D two gym my senior year. I was
on a level three team, and I'm going to these
clinics where there's a whole bunch of girls who you
know are level six team has been a world, has
(09:26):
done this and done that. I think my one piece
of advice is to not get comfortable with where you are.
You know, you can always be doing something to you know,
make it even better. Um and have like having fun
with that about you know, working hard and doing what
you love. You should never be at a point in
(09:47):
your senior year of like the whole recruitment process going
to these college clinics where you feel comfortable. I think
that's the one thing that's so great about college cheer.
You're always getting out of your comfort zone, and college
in general, UM, it's always taking out of your comfort zone.
And there it's never a point even in the past
practices that we've had for co ed, I mean, like
(10:10):
those skills that we do, like it's intense and it's
a lot, and you're gonna be uncomfortable, but it's a
way for you to learn how you deal with that
change and with that growth yourself. It's all about finding
the pressure and just leaning into that pressure. Thanks selling,
you know UM. So when we come back, we'll talk
a little bit about that pressure and in the form
(10:32):
of clinics, it's the one thing that UM coaches seem
to do the most in college chair It's the best
way to get everybody in one room and find a
talent um. So when we come back, we'll talk about
what recruiting looked like for us, what clinics looked like
for us, and then we've got some more things to
share with you, guys you're listening to beyond the megaphone.
I'm Nathan and and this is the college Athletes Network.
(11:01):
Welcome back to Beyond the Megaphone on the College Athletes Network.
I'm Nathan and I'm Cassidy. Subscribe to our podcast so
you never miss another episode. Okay, so clinics, let's talk
about it. Clinics and recruiting. Um, Cassy, why don't you
take them through what recruiting looked like pre COVID and
basically what has you know, what it looked like then,
(11:23):
and then you can talk about kind of what's changed,
what was happening during COVID, and what's kind of gone
back to normal and what's kind of stayed from then.
It's funny that recruiting is the word now because like
my senior year, I was packing a list of tryout dates. Like,
recruiting was very, very low when I was a senior.
(11:44):
They were definitely colleges who were recruiting because they were
smaller UM and wanted to offer you know, athletes a
spot right there and then so they could get them
to come to their school. But for a lot of
like bigger programs, it was not recruiting. It was you know,
oh well we noticed it tryouts or at clinics, but
you know, you should try out, not nothing more than that. UM. So,
(12:07):
I went to a college combine my senior year and
that one was a full recruiting process, like that was
strictly recruiting, no like tryouts or anything like that. It
was in Ohio and it was through USA Cheer. They
will host clinics or like cheer combines throughout you know,
the Midwest region and everywhere else. But it's just basically
(12:30):
like a whole bunch of schools there. So they were
stunt schools, cheer schools obviously um an outgrown tumbling and uh,
you know, there were smaller schools and then there was
some big ten schools, and there was some just random
schools that I had never even heard of that you know,
we're looking to build their program more. Um and I
(12:52):
actually really enjoyed how it was ran it. You know,
you come in, you get a number, and you get
to show your tumbling, your jumps, your stunts, and you
get a stunt with all these different schools. And then
as you're stunting with these schools, because that's the last
thing you do, all these schools will come around, you know,
pull you aside and be like, hey, we're really interested
in you, and like here's a little bit more about
my program and stuff like this. Um So, I liked
(13:14):
how those are run. That's more of like the recruitment
type deal. Um But then I also have been to
schools where it's a tryout process. So for example, I you,
we have done tryouts for majority of our time. I
don't think we've ever been at a point where we've recruited.
But obviously times are changing, so it could change this year.
(13:35):
I don't know. Um. But so for like I, you
you came in, you put your name on a tag,
and you know, you get to stunt, you get to tumble,
and then that's pretty much it. There's no like pulling
aside of anyone and being like we're really interested in you,
um or there's no like we have a spot for
(13:55):
you for next season type of thing. It's very one
for all whoever you know comes in on the day
of tryouts. That's the that's what it is, you know,
try I think those type of clinics are a good
way to make an impact on you know, yourself and
your presentation to the coaches and stuff. Um So, by
all means, go to those if you're the school you're
interested in. Is a strict tryout program. But I think
(14:20):
the recruitment process, like going to clinics who do recruit
are one very good for like your confidence and to
just good to see how they work and see how
you work in that type of environment. That's true. And
then you know, along comes COVID flips everything on stead right, Yes, um,
so recruiting kind of was that a standstill for a
(14:40):
year or so? Um only very you know, select few
teams were able to continue recruiting if they already had
previous um connection to athletes, you know. But other than that,
it really wasn't widespread. It really wasn't like a full
nationwide activity. It was really just for those select teams, um,
you know. And so what came along was video tryouts,
(15:04):
you know. So and now you have an electronic portfolio
of your of your talent, right, you have old videos,
you have new videos, um, you know, and you put
all this together in this online format and now you
have this piece of footage, piece of media that you
can send to every team you want. You know, it's
on the web. Anybody who wants to know about you
(15:25):
or wants to know about this athlete, it's now on
the web. So that's kind of opened up a lot
of opportunity for some some athletes who might have been
on a smaller program, or maybe not as a successful program, um,
maybe a smaller gym if they don't here at school.
You know, there's a whole lot of different opportunities now.
So what we have found is utilize those resources. Utilize
(15:48):
social media, utilize YouTube. You know, there's plenty of places
to put your talent out there so that people know
what you are and and so you know, going off
of that into that's how it looked for COVID. For males,
it's a lot of hands off. You know, there's not
really a place where high school males will go to
(16:10):
get widespread recruitment, right unless, like we said, and those
select teams. Um, obviously you go to those combines will
get attention. But for all those guys who join in college,
you come to cheer in all different ways. You know,
we have on our team right now, we have a
couple of guys who used to tutor some cheerleaders and
that's how they found it. Me I was in the band.
I used to just watch the cheer team as we
(16:33):
were performed with them. You know, um, you transferring and
you're related to a cheerleader and they say, hey, just
come and give it a shot, right, um, you know,
and then you bring in more people the next year
because you're friends with other guys. So all this to say,
it's a really random UM thing, which is male recruiting.
(16:54):
But the biggest thing is having a confidence that you've
done the work, you've done the practice. I think that's
what people will see more so than you have the
most skills the room, right, Like if you have a
presence when you perform, when you have UM, when you
let cheer, be an extension of your personality. That's what
(17:14):
UM programs are looking for, you know. So for for
males it's it's it's a lot different for for females UM,
but it's the principles the same. You want to find
that personality that you can have and be comfortable with
while you cheer. Okay, story time, right, why don't you
(17:36):
tell them about your craziest, funniest not so funny? Is
the worst best clinic experience? What do you got? Um?
Oh boy? Okay, So clinics have always been super intimidating.
Just as a girl, you know you're it's it's scary.
There's girls literally fighting to the nail for you know,
(17:59):
a spot in this program or just to be seen
by the coaches and stuff, get some recognition. There's your year, um,
and a lot of the times you're like, you go
by yourself. I went to all my clinics by myself,
and it was I saw a couple of girls, you know,
together who probably came from the same gym, or like
I'd see other girls who came by themselves. You know,
(18:20):
you had people coming from I went to a clinic
where was from Texas. She came to Indiana for a clinic. Like,
there's just a wide variety of people who are coming
for a spot and there it's intimidating. It's so so intimidating.
So I remember the first clinic I went to my
senior year, which was a rival school, Purdue Country. This
(18:45):
is in West Lafayette. Oh, this is going to be
so good, and um, I walked in. I had no
interest in going to Purdue. I will say that flat out.
I have been an eye you girl from the start.
My coach cheer to eye you, and her husband cheer
to eye you. So I was going to eye you. Okay,
I went to Purdue of the experience that I needed
(19:06):
experience at you know, different programs, stunting whatever. So I
did both clinics. They had a CODE clinic and then
they had a separate all girl clinic, and code clinic
was fine. I did my skills, killed my tumbling whatever.
Stunting you know, did fine. I had a decent experience
with coded stunting, and it was less intimidating for me
(19:28):
for some reason. I don't know. I think because the
all girls stunting when did you start cod stunting my
first year of chier eighth grade? Really Okay, well, that's awesome.
So I had I was comfortable with all that they
were just doing, you know, qps, libs, stretches, all that stuff.
I was fine with that. All girls stunting I have
not been confident in ever. Yeah, it's it's just a
(19:52):
whole new realm of stunting. Um. So I was really
nervous for that all girl clinic and I get to
it's time for the all girl clinic and I'm stretching,
you know, don't I don't have to tell again because
I did the code part. So I just got stunned
the whole time, which I thought would be fun in
the long run, UM, but actually it was not. It
(20:14):
was terrifying. It was the like scariest clinic I've ever
been to, just because the dynamic of that program was
a lot different than like other programs I've been to.
UM it at that clinic at that time, it was
very much filled with worlds athletes and a lot of
(20:36):
talk about when I was on this team and I
cheered here and I won this title and I did
this contest, yes basically, and I literally went to a
D two gym. I had just finished the season cheering
Level two and went to the D two summit as
a base, not even as a flyer. So I was
I felt so much imposter syndrome. I felt so out
(20:59):
of place. My confidence was down here. I was like terrify.
After that, I was like, I'm never going to a college.
I'm never going to make a college cheer team ever,
Like all these girls are so much better than me,
and they've done so much more cheer related and it
was just, oh my gosh, she was so scary. But
I did. After I went to that one, I went
(21:20):
to the Ohio one and my confidence just went straight
back up. So I mean nothing against the program. That's
just like the environment that it was at the time
with those class of incoming seniors. That was just how
it was. And my mom was at that clinic and
she sat in between these two parents who went to
an all star gym here in Indy that competes at Worlds,
(21:42):
and the whole time they were just chatting back and
forth about, you know, when they went to Worlds and
when they went to this competition and when they went
to this and how their kids are on this team now.
And like, my mom isn't very involved in my cheer life.
I've like, I like making my own compositions by myself.
I don't like having my mom, you know, like have
to be my voice for me and cheer. I think
(22:04):
proving myself should be enough. But some true moms can
be a lot. But that's not what we're talking about today.
But my mom was just so out of place too.
I just like it was just a lot. It was
an insane clinic. Well, and either of us would be
the first one to say Perdue is an incredible program.
We know many people from Perdue who are just yes, um,
(22:29):
So it's really just depends on really the luck of
the clinic. Yes, it definitely does because I've I'll say
it first, I've been to some i U clinics where
I was like, I'm never going to be a part
of this program. I'm terrified. Like it's it's just I
think it's just the realm of clinics as a senior
in high school looking at a program that you're really
wanting to be in and just getting intimidated from the start.
(22:53):
You want to talk about intimidation. Um, My clinic experience
was terrifying start to finish. UM. Like you said, walking
out of there, I'm like, there's no way, there's no
I'm gonna be a part of this. That was fun,
mildly embarrassing, but yeah, there's no way. UM. So February
(23:15):
UM fully band kid right. UM. So you know I
had this big old beard, long hair. UM walk in.
Somebody asked, UM, are you a football player? And I
was like, ye, no, definitely not a football player. UM.
(23:37):
I don't know if she was just trying to be
nice because I definitely don't look like a football player,
but it's okay. Um. Yeah, so I walk in. I
remember getting up so early because I was so nervous.
Um I had to just like breathe for like an
hour when I got up, because I was like, I
don't know I'm doing. I'm going, but I don't know
what I'm doing. Um. I remember going to Walgreens that
morning because I always saw they had all this tape, right,
(23:59):
they have all this athletic tape all around their hands
and their wrists. And I was like, I need some
of that, clearly, need to at least look the part um,
even if I can't do the stuff. So I grabbed
like three different kinds of tape. I think they were
all wrong. Um. And so I get there and then
I realized I was like I don't even know how
to do this. Um. So thankfully these guys um from
(24:22):
Kentucky high schools were there and they were like four
times my size, just absolute animals, and they were like, hey, man,
what's up. And I was like, hey, do you guys
know how to tape your wrists? And I was like
and they were like, yeah, yeah, we we can help
you out. So um. So already high imposter syndrome right
(24:43):
Like I was like, I don't belong here, this is
not what I'm supposed to be doing. Um. But we
get started, we get set up, um, and I remember
it playing his day like it was yesterday. Um. Here
comes Sam Conrad walking up to me. Uh, He's like,
what's up man? Uh you want to learn how's done?
I was like, absolutely, I have no idea what I'm doing.
It took like two hours to get hands once, you know, um,
(25:08):
and it took like thirty minutes to get it again. Um.
Poor Abby. I think I dropped her like fifty times
that day, her and t J. I was just dropping
left and right the whole day. Um. But it was fun,
you know. And I was like, this was so bad
as as a performance and I probably won't ever make it.
(25:31):
But at least I tried right, um so and then
it worked out right somehow. Um. But yeah, I think
the biggest thing about clinics is confidence. You just need
go in there, go for it. Whatever they say. It
might not be what you used to, it might not
be um the norm for you or your program or
you know anything like that. Go for it. Dive in
(25:54):
head first that day you are a part of that program.
That's what your mind mindset should be. Start to finish. Um.
You know that day that you were in West Lavayette,
you were a produce, cheer leader, start to finish. That's
what you have to think. The days that we were
there at the i U clinics we're part of were
the Hoosiers Let's go, you know. UM, So that's what
(26:16):
That's what we would I would say, UM is the
biggest thing is your confidence, your presence and just being
a part of the program that you're at. UM. So
we're gonna take a break and then we come back.
We're gonna talk about what it looks like on the
other side of recruiting. Once you finally made the team.
You're there what life has called cheerer looks like um,
(26:38):
everything like that, and UM, how awesome it is to
see all of your work pay off. You're listening to
be on the Megaphone. I'm Nathan and I'm Cassidy. And
is it the College Athletes met h Welcome back to
(26:59):
Beyond the Megaphone on the College Athletes Network. This is
Cassidy and I'm Nathan. Subscribe to our podcast. You don't
miss this show. Okay, So we are past recruiting. We
are on the team. Best day of your life. You
get that phone call. I remember, Oh my gosh, the
day in April. We made the team. Been locked in
(27:21):
the house for like five weeks. I'm going literally insane,
and UM, I get an email and Julie's like, hey,
we'd like to meet UM with all the guys UH
to talk about moving forward in the tryout process. And
I was like, oh, sweet, I've made it to the
next round of triuns. I made the team. UM. We
get on the phone and Julie's there and she's like
(27:44):
real serious before she starts talking UM, and I'm sweating.
I'm like in the corner of my house, like just
trying to like have like the most professional background as
I can. UM. And so we get on and she's like, Okay,
this is everybody. She looks around. She pauses, and I
was like, oh my gosh, maybe I didn't make it.
(28:05):
I don't know. And she was like, all right, you
guys are looking at her. Two teammates congratulations around the
team and I flip out, dude, like it was so
so amazing. UM. I remember like having to like turn
my camera off and I was just like going nuts.
My parents were in the other room. They were like, yeah, yeah,
were you on. I was like yes, I man, we're good.
(28:25):
So we're all freaking out like on mute. But um, yeah,
best toy ever. So fast forward. What is life like
as a college cheerloderm? Okay, so we'll take you through
a little bit about what it is, what it all entails. Um.
What I was always super interested in was, um, all
of the perks that you get as a college athlete,
(28:46):
you know, growing up wanting to be a college baseball player.
I always had that in my mind, like, oh my gosh,
you know, you get to do all these things. You
have the weight room, the meals, you know, all the
cool clothes. You know. So as at what I what
it looks like at I you is, Um, we have
athletic dining halls Tobias, which is amazing food, uh, lunch
(29:10):
and dinner, and it's super super helpful for me to
keep my weight in check and keep make sure that
I'm eating the right things to fuel myself for practice
for games, you know, everything like that. Um, the weight room,
Oh my gosh, I love it. Um. I sound like
a meathead right now. No. Um, but I do like
(29:31):
having space, you know, like you know, you go to
like a planet fitness and it's just super crammed up,
especially in January every year. UM. But UM, you know,
it's just it's just nice to be surrounded by cream
and Crimson while you're working out. You've got other athletes
in there, which is super cool. Like you have a
whole wall of windows facing the football stadium. UM, and
(29:53):
like me, being a sports geek, like baseball will come
in and I'm just over there staring at them. I'm like,
oh my gosh, they're so cool, you know what I mean. UM,
So that's just been really fun. And then you get
to go work out with your teammates, which is nice
too because they're also your closest friends. So it's kind
of like a win win there. UM. State of the
art equipment, you know, it's just super nice to have.
(30:16):
And you also get plans, right, you have UM workout plans,
you have regiments that you're supposed to follow, um. And
all of this is just getting you in a position
to perform the best that you can. And it's a
really good thing to buy into early and go often,
you know. Um. And then you've got all of the
(30:37):
the merch the gear, the backpacks, the sweatpants, the you know,
the the zip ups. You know, all of this is
just in my opinion, fruits of your labor. Right, you've
sacrificed all throughout high school. If you cheered in high school,
you've sacrificed all throughout your training. If you join in college. Um,
you know, these things that you've done to make the
(30:57):
team is a sacrifice of your time, right, and so
this is kind of like the reward for working so
hard beforehand. And so there's all the perks. But then
you have your full time job, which is not only
school but cheer. Right, So what does what does practice
look like? Because I'm co ed? What does it look
(31:18):
like for all girls? Wow? Girl? Now I don't have
exact measurements because I haven't competed or done the whole
thing this year yet. So based off of you know,
prior knowledge, I am like I U all Girls probably
biggest fan ever. So I don't know a little bit,
not a little bit here and there, but basically All
(31:38):
Girls probably the more intense team that we have. They
compete and still do the game days basketball, they do
women's basketball, men's basketball, and football. Um so our football
season schedule looks pretty similar. I would say, uh, still,
you know we have Tuesday Thursday game on this year,
we have a game on Friday. We get a Friday game,
(31:59):
but most of them a game most time on Saturdays. UM.
And then as it's starts to get closer to November ish, uh,
Crimston will start Sunday practices to get prepped for competition. UH.
Then over breaks. From my understanding, they don't go home
(32:19):
on the breaks. They stay here. They're doing two days,
three days practicing NonStop getting ready for competition, which is
in January. So they'll go to Orlando in January and
compete at u c A College Nationals. And then once
that's done, that's still in the midst of women's and
men's basketball. So it's still in the midst of classes. Yes,
(32:43):
still in the midst of classes too. Don't forget about
that because I do it sometimes. UM, it's a lot
that time period I think is the most intense. After that,
it's a lot of just focused on making sure we're
getting the games done. UM and then March Madness and
all that fun stuff. But yeah, they they definitely we
(33:05):
have a very intense schedule in terms of time management
and committing to everything that they've committed to. UM. Finding
a way to balance all of that is a process
as an incoming you know, freshman, it's gonna be a
lot just because it's such a big adjustment. You know,
(33:25):
you're basically on your own, like you schedule your own
classes for school. You if you're on the college team,
you have these commitments that you've made to be at practices,
to go to your workouts, and to cheer the games
and stuff like that. Um So, finding that balance of Okay,
I need time to rest, I'm gonna do this here,
(33:45):
I go to practice this time, and then I have
homework after this. Like, it's a process and it's a lot.
Um but if that's something you know you're willing to
commit to, then go for it. That's why you know
the numbers dropped so far down once you get to college.
Um it's a it's a big commitment. It's a sacrifice.
Like we talked about beforehand, once you're on the team,
(34:06):
that doesn't mean that your hard works over really means
it's just starting. It is very much just um so,
and so that's what the competition aspect looks like as
far as my team, um as game day, you know,
we are the hype crew of the university essentially. Um
you know, we gotta be on every single game. We
cheer football, men's basketball. UM. We'll do some pr stuff
(34:28):
throughout the year. Both teams will do that UM. But really,
what's in my opinion intriguing about UM, the spirit crew
side of UM cheer rather than competing, is you get
out what you put in. You know, you can go
and you can only practice there two or three required
practice a week, and that's totally fine, and that's more
(34:51):
than acceptable, and you will be a great athlete and
have a great experience. What we've liked to do UM
when you were on co ed as and as as
well as some of my teammates. We go every day.
You know, it's it's kind of like creating a routine
for yourself. And the more you go, the more you
(35:11):
get out of it. You know, your skills come more naturally.
Game day feels more relaxed because you're not worrying about
those skills, you know, UM being on a co ed
team during game day, we're a very stunt heavy program.
Not as much tumbling, UM, not as much motions. For
the guys we are bread and butter is stunting, you know,
So you go every day if you can, just to
(35:33):
make sure that when you get out there on the field,
there's not a question. You know. The last thing I
want to be doing in a stunt is saying to myself,
who I really hope I hit this stunt, because now
I've already I've already failed, right, because now we're worried
about it. Like we said before, the confidence is key.
And so you know, getting out there on game days
(35:53):
knowing that you belong out there what you do UM
is a is a good reminder to have that, I think.
So let's talk about reputations as a true leader, okay,
because this is something that really no one has had
to experience before the social media age, right, no one
had like our parents. Our parents parents didn't really have
to deal with the social media age. And how how
(36:16):
much harder it is for UM athletes too, UM maintain
that that reputation. Yeah, I feel like well, first starters obviously,
you know, the stereotype of at least a female cheerleader, it's,
you know, we're dumb, and we're blonde and stupid and
you know whatever, and we are just there for looks, um,
(36:40):
when at the end of the day, we're obviously not
just there for that. You know, we're passionate about what
we do, and we're committed to this sport and we
work hard. We work incredibly hard to not only put
out a good game day, but to also have other
people looking at us and think, wow, they actually look
really good and they do more than just yea. UM.
(37:03):
But I think it an important part that goes into
especially being a female cheerleader, UM, is making sure you're
keeping up. You know, you're being kind to people, You're
representing your team well, you're representing your school well. Because
at the end of the day, when you're in college,
your college cheerleader, you're not only representing yourself, but you're
(37:23):
representing everyone who wears your programs shirt. You're representing your college. UM.
And you want to make sure that that reputation is
being upheld to a high standard. UM. Something we always
say as a program, as a school athletic department is
you're a part of something bigger than yourself. UM. And
(37:46):
keeping that just like in the back of your mind
when you're posting on social media, like you needn't think
is this gonna be representing myself in my program? Well? Um,
And I think once you get in the groove of
you know this I'm committed to this. I am wanting
to do college cheer. I want to be a part
of this said program. Being held to a higher holding
(38:09):
yourself to a higher standard is not the difficult part.
It's if that's something that you really want, um. But yeah,
at the end of the day, it's just if if
something is part, If you want to be a part
of said program. And you see how there are other
childers hold themselves on social media, in public, in a
(38:32):
at an event for publicity and all that stuff, you
want to replicate that to the best of your ability. Um.
There have been so many times where we're at a
basketball game or you know, especially since this has happened,
where little girls will come up to me and my
teammates and you know, want to take a picture with
us because they look up to you like you're not
(38:53):
only upholding yourself for you know, your coaches and people
who older, the older generations, but also for the younger
athletes who want to be just like you. You are
always UM under the microscope as a college athlete. This
is outside of cheer. UM cheer, especially because we are
known for being leaders, right it's in the name cheer leaders.
(39:17):
We are seeing we are on the field, um So
you know it, and it's and frankly, it's not fair, right,
It's not fair to be held to a higher standard
than the average person, to your peer, to your friend
who's living in your dorm, who you know who can
sleep until noon and you know this, that and the
other who doesn't have to go to class, who doesn't
have to maintain a certain g p A. It's not fair.
(39:38):
But it's a responsibility that's worth it, Okay, not only
just for your sport, but in life, having responsibility, maintaining yourself,
holding yourself to a high standard, the highest standard as
possible is a good habit to have. It's a good
skill skill to figure out early. Um And we're not
and no one should ever be asking for perfection, right,
(39:59):
but we ask for your best, right, That's what our
coaches asked for. That's where teammates ask of each other.
Um So, just knowing that and keeping yourself aware of
I'm I need to be held at a higher standard
because I'm an example for others. Um So I think
that's the biggest thing. And like we said, you do
(40:21):
those things, the reward comes naturally, you know. So thanks
for listening. To Beyond the Megaphone on the College Athletes Network.
I'm Nathan and I'm Cassidy. Make sure to subscribe to
our podcast. You never miss another episode. Thanks so much
for your time, and we'll talk to you again so soon.
Beyond the Megaphone has been a presentation of I Heart
(40:44):
Radio and the College Athletes Network.
Beyond the Megaphone is a production of I Heart Radio
and the College Athletes Network. Hey everybody, this is Cassidy
and this is Nathan. You're listening to Beyond the Megaphone
on the College Athletes Network. Please subscribe to the podcast
so you never miss a new episode. This can easily
(00:26):
be done via the I Heart Radio app. You can
find me on Instagram at Cassidy with a double y Nie.
You can find me on Instagram and Twitter at our
Nathan Paris Cool. Bam, Hey, cass how are you? Um? Okay,
all right, Yeah, you're gonna talk about some cheer always.
(00:49):
I'm gonna do Spanglish from now on. Okay, So we're
gonna talk about what I feel like a lot of
people are coming to our podcast for a k a.
The process of high school cheer to college cheer and
what that all looks like the future cheerleaders of America. Yeah,
America needs cheerleaders. So starting with senior year, uh, because
(01:16):
I feel like that's when it really gets down to
make or break it. Moment Um, I'll talk about my
senior year, what that looked like a combination of the
past in the present. Um, So I my senior year.
Football season I senior year. I did competition cheer and
(01:37):
I did school cheer. I cheered for football season, and
that year actually was the year my high school team
went to Nationals for the first time. So my winter
season was pretty intense. UM. But football season, you know,
it was okay. I was getting the flow of things.
I only had UM all star competition three days a week,
(01:59):
and then I had games on Fridays. Obviously, high school
practices were here in there, but um, for the most part,
I spent the beginning of the fall semester of my
senior senior year looking for every clinic in their mother
to go to. I was. I knew I wanted to
(02:19):
fly because there's absolutely no way that I could base
at the college level. UM, but I didn't have the
experience that I felt like I needed to be able
to be confident enough to try out as a college flyer.
So I literally signed up for every single clinic I
went to combines. I went to n A A school, like,
(02:39):
what's the word, I'm looking for prospects an ai A clinics. Sorry,
I forgot what clinics was for a second. Anyways, I
went to any clinics. I went to um i U clinics.
I went to produce clinics. I went to so many clinics,
um so i's always spent a lot of that time doing.
(03:00):
And then yes, this was in the fall. I went
to a lot of fall clinics. I didn't I got
to go to one spring clinic. But then COVID hit. Yeah,
So my senior year I literally spent each sleep breathing.
Cheer school was a factor obviously in there, but like
for the majority of it, I was this was my goal,
(03:23):
this is what I wanted to do. I put every
last dying breath I had into trying to be a
college cheerleader. So we had so you had um college cheer,
prep school cheer, and competitive chair all the same time. Okay,
so how did that even happen? Um A lot of
(03:46):
finding the time, Well, it wasn't. I wouldn't even say
finding the time, just making the time for myself. The
time was there. I just had to plan it out
in a way where I wasn't so incredibly overwhelmed with everything. Sure,
what were something like the tips and tricks of you know,
making sure you know that okay for next two hours,
(04:08):
it's going to be more school cheer and then later
time I'm gonna be working on some competitive cheer, like
how did you keep your mind about you? You know
when going from thinking So I would have like school
chure practices a lot of the times on days when
I didn't have All Star cheer practices, which was to
my luck, but also I did have days where I'd
go from school cheer to All Start cheer. But on
(04:29):
the days where I didn't, I would I wanted to
be in the gym every day. That was something that
I wanted to do. So I would after my All
Start practice and my All Start my school cheer practice ended,
I would go to my All Star gym and they
would be practicing, and I would go there find a
little corner work on the skills that I knew I
needed for uh college cheer. I would work on my
(04:50):
standing tumbling, my renting tumbling, even if I had the skills,
just getting the reps in and making sure their picture
perfect to a t I would spend you know, two
hours there, come home. I would limit myself to leaving
nine and then go home. Um. When it got to
winter time though, that's when I started doing a lot
(05:12):
of nationals prep for my high school and then you
know that's the height of All Star competition time. Yeah,
so I gave every last bit of energy at every
single practice. I put in so much work. I would
come in early, I'd stay late, UM, just so I
could get the reps in the confidence I needed for
(05:33):
that particular season, whether it was you know, school chair
where all Star, UM, I don't a lot of the
college prep kind of died down at that point because
I was really focused on that. UM. But that's as
their competitive season too, So yeah, it is competitive season.
And even at high school clinics, a lot of the
(05:54):
college recruits go to high school competitions. So I've been
recruited out of competition before for high school because you know,
they're looking for college athletes to um, they'll go to
the competition. So, I mean, it's just a matter of
being on your game day or your A game. Every
time you go, being on your game day, you know,
(06:15):
your game day, Ye're a version of being on your
A game. So basically what we're hearing is you wanted
this from the moment you know you got into senior year. Yes, yeah,
this was It was not never a question on whether
you were going to cheer in college or not. This
was something that you were just like, this is my thing,
(06:35):
I'm gonna do it. I knew, no matter where I was,
no matter how small how big the school was, I
was going to cheer there and I would make that
my goal until it happened. Um So a lot I
knew going from clinics in the past that you know,
once you're a senior, that's when they coaches really pay
attention to you, and obviously like are looking for like
(06:58):
more attention towards you because you're a senior. UM So
my junior year in below clinics, I cared about them.
I did try at them, but also I knew when
I got to my senior year, like those clinics meant
the most and I made the most impact on them
because I was a senior UM So every clinic I
went to, I just really wanted to be prepared for
(07:18):
uh no matter what the school was, I was on
my A game. What's really cool about coming into cheer
in college is like I never had to experience all
these crazy commitment um levels in high school, at least
in cheer obviously because I wasn't in cheer later and
so what I find and from your stories is you
(07:41):
gotta want it, you know, and this is not something
that you know you can kind of do haphazardly and
then just kind of hope it works out. You're either
all in or you're all out. And I think that's
great because it it kind of makes everyone who is
a part of the program obsessed with your right, Like
the everyone's commitment level is on tent the entire time. Um.
(08:03):
So like what I would say, and this is this
is with any sport in high school, right, Um. Growing
up in high school, I was planning on playing college ball. Uh,
college baseball. So like you said, it's year round. It's
not just your school season. You have travel ball, you
have lessons, you have private instruction. You know, you buy
into this completely, um, because it'll be worth it on
(08:25):
the other side. Right, So, you know, the best advice
that I could give, um, two people looking for college
here is buy in completely. Buy in. UM. If you
know that there's a specific school that you want to
go to, buy into not only that school, but buy
into the culture of their program. You know, um, because
it's a big deal and it's fun and it's so
(08:45):
great to fully invest yourself into something and then see
that come to fruition on the other end, right, you know,
that's what makes it all worth it. Um. So you know,
don't be afraid to be obsessed with this one thing.
If it's your thing, go for it. That's what I
would say. Um. You know, these recruiting processes are not easy.
They're not supposed to be easy. If it was easy, ever,
(09:05):
I would do it. But that's what makes the other
side that much sweeter. Yes, um Uh. The one thing
I will add on to that is I think I
was like on one even more just because I went
to a D two gym my senior year. I was
on a level three team, and I'm going to these
clinics where there's a whole bunch of girls who you
know are level six team has been a world, has
(09:26):
done this and done that. I think my one piece
of advice is to not get comfortable with where you are.
You know, you can always be doing something to you know,
make it even better. Um and have like having fun
with that about you know, working hard and doing what
you love. You should never be at a point in
(09:47):
your senior year of like the whole recruitment process going
to these college clinics where you feel comfortable. I think
that's the one thing that's so great about college cheer.
You're always getting out of your comfort zone, and college
in general, UM, it's always taking out of your comfort zone.
And there it's never a point even in the past
practices that we've had for co ed, I mean, like
(10:10):
those skills that we do, like it's intense and it's
a lot, and you're gonna be uncomfortable, but it's a
way for you to learn how you deal with that
change and with that growth yourself. It's all about finding
the pressure and just leaning into that pressure. Thanks selling,
you know UM. So when we come back, we'll talk
a little bit about that pressure and in the form
(10:32):
of clinics, it's the one thing that UM coaches seem
to do the most in college chair It's the best
way to get everybody in one room and find a
talent um. So when we come back, we'll talk about
what recruiting looked like for us, what clinics looked like
for us, and then we've got some more things to
share with you, guys you're listening to beyond the megaphone.
I'm Nathan and and this is the college Athletes Network.
(11:01):
Welcome back to Beyond the Megaphone on the College Athletes Network.
I'm Nathan and I'm Cassidy. Subscribe to our podcast so
you never miss another episode. Okay, so clinics, let's talk
about it. Clinics and recruiting. Um, Cassy, why don't you
take them through what recruiting looked like pre COVID and
basically what has you know, what it looked like then,
(11:23):
and then you can talk about kind of what's changed,
what was happening during COVID, and what's kind of gone
back to normal and what's kind of stayed from then.
It's funny that recruiting is the word now because like
my senior year, I was packing a list of tryout dates. Like,
recruiting was very, very low when I was a senior.
(11:44):
They were definitely colleges who were recruiting because they were
smaller UM and wanted to offer you know, athletes a
spot right there and then so they could get them
to come to their school. But for a lot of
like bigger programs, it was not recruiting. It was you know,
oh well we noticed it tryouts or at clinics, but
you know, you should try out, not nothing more than that. UM. So,
(12:07):
I went to a college combine my senior year and
that one was a full recruiting process, like that was
strictly recruiting, no like tryouts or anything like that. It
was in Ohio and it was through USA Cheer. They
will host clinics or like cheer combines throughout you know,
the Midwest region and everywhere else. But it's just basically
(12:30):
like a whole bunch of schools there. So they were
stunt schools, cheer schools obviously um an outgrown tumbling and uh,
you know, there were smaller schools and then there was
some big ten schools, and there was some just random
schools that I had never even heard of that you know,
we're looking to build their program more. Um and I
(12:52):
actually really enjoyed how it was ran it. You know,
you come in, you get a number, and you get
to show your tumbling, your jumps, your stunts, and you
get a stunt with all these different schools. And then
as you're stunting with these schools, because that's the last
thing you do, all these schools will come around, you know,
pull you aside and be like, hey, we're really interested
in you, and like here's a little bit more about
my program and stuff like this. Um So, I liked
(13:14):
how those are run. That's more of like the recruitment
type deal. Um But then I also have been to
schools where it's a tryout process. So for example, I you,
we have done tryouts for majority of our time. I
don't think we've ever been at a point where we've recruited.
But obviously times are changing, so it could change this year.
(13:35):
I don't know. Um. But so for like I, you
you came in, you put your name on a tag,
and you know, you get to stunt, you get to tumble,
and then that's pretty much it. There's no like pulling
aside of anyone and being like we're really interested in you,
um or there's no like we have a spot for
(13:55):
you for next season type of thing. It's very one
for all whoever you know comes in on the day
of tryouts. That's the that's what it is, you know,
try I think those type of clinics are a good
way to make an impact on you know, yourself and
your presentation to the coaches and stuff. Um So, by
all means, go to those if you're the school you're
interested in. Is a strict tryout program. But I think
(14:20):
the recruitment process, like going to clinics who do recruit
are one very good for like your confidence and to
just good to see how they work and see how
you work in that type of environment. That's true. And
then you know, along comes COVID flips everything on stead right, Yes, um,
so recruiting kind of was that a standstill for a
(14:40):
year or so? Um only very you know, select few
teams were able to continue recruiting if they already had
previous um connection to athletes, you know. But other than that,
it really wasn't widespread. It really wasn't like a full
nationwide activity. It was really just for those select teams, um,
you know. And so what came along was video tryouts,
(15:04):
you know. So and now you have an electronic portfolio
of your of your talent, right, you have old videos,
you have new videos, um, you know, and you put
all this together in this online format and now you
have this piece of footage, piece of media that you
can send to every team you want. You know, it's
on the web. Anybody who wants to know about you
(15:25):
or wants to know about this athlete, it's now on
the web. So that's kind of opened up a lot
of opportunity for some some athletes who might have been
on a smaller program, or maybe not as a successful program, um,
maybe a smaller gym if they don't here at school.
You know, there's a whole lot of different opportunities now.
So what we have found is utilize those resources. Utilize
(15:48):
social media, utilize YouTube. You know, there's plenty of places
to put your talent out there so that people know
what you are and and so you know, going off
of that into that's how it looked for COVID. For males,
it's a lot of hands off. You know, there's not
really a place where high school males will go to
(16:10):
get widespread recruitment, right unless, like we said, and those
select teams. Um, obviously you go to those combines will
get attention. But for all those guys who join in college,
you come to cheer in all different ways. You know,
we have on our team right now, we have a
couple of guys who used to tutor some cheerleaders and
that's how they found it. Me I was in the band.
I used to just watch the cheer team as we
(16:33):
were performed with them. You know, um, you transferring and
you're related to a cheerleader and they say, hey, just
come and give it a shot, right, um, you know,
and then you bring in more people the next year
because you're friends with other guys. So all this to say,
it's a really random UM thing, which is male recruiting.
(16:54):
But the biggest thing is having a confidence that you've
done the work, you've done the practice. I think that's
what people will see more so than you have the
most skills the room, right, Like if you have a
presence when you perform, when you have UM, when you
let cheer, be an extension of your personality. That's what
(17:14):
UM programs are looking for, you know. So for for
males it's it's it's a lot different for for females UM,
but it's the principles the same. You want to find
that personality that you can have and be comfortable with
while you cheer. Okay, story time, right, why don't you
(17:36):
tell them about your craziest, funniest not so funny? Is
the worst best clinic experience? What do you got? Um?
Oh boy? Okay, So clinics have always been super intimidating.
Just as a girl, you know you're it's it's scary.
There's girls literally fighting to the nail for you know,
(17:59):
a spot in this program or just to be seen
by the coaches and stuff, get some recognition. There's your year, um,
and a lot of the times you're like, you go
by yourself. I went to all my clinics by myself,
and it was I saw a couple of girls, you know,
together who probably came from the same gym, or like
I'd see other girls who came by themselves. You know,
(18:20):
you had people coming from I went to a clinic
where was from Texas. She came to Indiana for a clinic. Like,
there's just a wide variety of people who are coming
for a spot and there it's intimidating. It's so so intimidating.
So I remember the first clinic I went to my
senior year, which was a rival school, Purdue Country. This
(18:45):
is in West Lafayette. Oh, this is going to be
so good, and um, I walked in. I had no
interest in going to Purdue. I will say that flat out.
I have been an eye you girl from the start.
My coach cheer to eye you, and her husband cheer
to eye you. So I was going to eye you. Okay,
I went to Purdue of the experience that I needed
(19:06):
experience at you know, different programs, stunting whatever. So I
did both clinics. They had a CODE clinic and then
they had a separate all girl clinic, and code clinic
was fine. I did my skills, killed my tumbling whatever.
Stunting you know, did fine. I had a decent experience
with coded stunting, and it was less intimidating for me
(19:28):
for some reason. I don't know. I think because the
all girls stunting when did you start cod stunting my
first year of chier eighth grade? Really Okay, well, that's awesome.
So I had I was comfortable with all that they
were just doing, you know, qps, libs, stretches, all that stuff.
I was fine with that. All girls stunting I have
not been confident in ever. Yeah, it's it's just a
(19:52):
whole new realm of stunting. Um. So I was really
nervous for that all girl clinic and I get to
it's time for the all girl clinic and I'm stretching,
you know, don't I don't have to tell again because
I did the code part. So I just got stunned
the whole time, which I thought would be fun in
the long run, UM, but actually it was not. It
(20:14):
was terrifying. It was the like scariest clinic I've ever
been to, just because the dynamic of that program was
a lot different than like other programs I've been to.
UM it at that clinic at that time, it was
very much filled with worlds athletes and a lot of
(20:36):
talk about when I was on this team and I
cheered here and I won this title and I did
this contest, yes basically, and I literally went to a
D two gym. I had just finished the season cheering
Level two and went to the D two summit as
a base, not even as a flyer. So I was
I felt so much imposter syndrome. I felt so out
(20:59):
of place. My confidence was down here. I was like terrify.
After that, I was like, I'm never going to a college.
I'm never going to make a college cheer team ever,
Like all these girls are so much better than me,
and they've done so much more cheer related and it
was just, oh my gosh, she was so scary. But
I did. After I went to that one, I went
(21:20):
to the Ohio one and my confidence just went straight
back up. So I mean nothing against the program. That's
just like the environment that it was at the time
with those class of incoming seniors. That was just how
it was. And my mom was at that clinic and
she sat in between these two parents who went to
an all star gym here in Indy that competes at Worlds,
(21:42):
and the whole time they were just chatting back and
forth about, you know, when they went to Worlds and
when they went to this competition and when they went
to this and how their kids are on this team now.
And like, my mom isn't very involved in my cheer life.
I've like, I like making my own compositions by myself.
I don't like having my mom, you know, like have
to be my voice for me and cheer. I think
(22:04):
proving myself should be enough. But some true moms can
be a lot. But that's not what we're talking about today.
But my mom was just so out of place too.
I just like it was just a lot. It was
an insane clinic. Well, and either of us would be
the first one to say Perdue is an incredible program.
We know many people from Perdue who are just yes, um,
(22:29):
So it's really just depends on really the luck of
the clinic. Yes, it definitely does because I've I'll say
it first, I've been to some i U clinics where
I was like, I'm never going to be a part
of this program. I'm terrified. Like it's it's just I
think it's just the realm of clinics as a senior
in high school looking at a program that you're really
wanting to be in and just getting intimidated from the start.
(22:53):
You want to talk about intimidation. Um, My clinic experience
was terrifying start to finish. UM. Like you said, walking
out of there, I'm like, there's no way, there's no
I'm gonna be a part of this. That was fun,
mildly embarrassing, but yeah, there's no way. UM. So February
(23:15):
UM fully band kid right. UM. So you know I
had this big old beard, long hair. UM walk in.
Somebody asked, UM, are you a football player? And I
was like, ye, no, definitely not a football player. UM.
(23:37):
I don't know if she was just trying to be
nice because I definitely don't look like a football player,
but it's okay. Um. Yeah, so I walk in. I
remember getting up so early because I was so nervous.
Um I had to just like breathe for like an
hour when I got up, because I was like, I
don't know I'm doing. I'm going, but I don't know
what I'm doing. Um. I remember going to Walgreens that
morning because I always saw they had all this tape, right,
(23:59):
they have all this athletic tape all around their hands
and their wrists. And I was like, I need some
of that, clearly, need to at least look the part um,
even if I can't do the stuff. So I grabbed
like three different kinds of tape. I think they were
all wrong. Um. And so I get there and then
I realized I was like I don't even know how
to do this. Um. So thankfully these guys um from
(24:22):
Kentucky high schools were there and they were like four
times my size, just absolute animals, and they were like, hey, man,
what's up. And I was like, hey, do you guys
know how to tape your wrists? And I was like
and they were like, yeah, yeah, we we can help
you out. So um. So already high imposter syndrome right
(24:43):
Like I was like, I don't belong here, this is
not what I'm supposed to be doing. Um. But we
get started, we get set up, um, and I remember
it playing his day like it was yesterday. Um. Here
comes Sam Conrad walking up to me. Uh, He's like,
what's up man? Uh you want to learn how's done?
I was like, absolutely, I have no idea what I'm doing.
It took like two hours to get hands once, you know, um,
(25:08):
and it took like thirty minutes to get it again. Um.
Poor Abby. I think I dropped her like fifty times
that day, her and t J. I was just dropping
left and right the whole day. Um. But it was fun,
you know. And I was like, this was so bad
as as a performance and I probably won't ever make it.
(25:31):
But at least I tried right, um so and then
it worked out right somehow. Um. But yeah, I think
the biggest thing about clinics is confidence. You just need
go in there, go for it. Whatever they say. It
might not be what you used to, it might not
be um the norm for you or your program or
you know anything like that. Go for it. Dive in
(25:54):
head first that day you are a part of that program.
That's what your mind mindset should be. Start to finish. Um.
You know that day that you were in West Lavayette,
you were a produce, cheer leader, start to finish. That's
what you have to think. The days that we were
there at the i U clinics we're part of were
the Hoosiers Let's go, you know. UM, So that's what
(26:16):
That's what we would I would say, UM is the
biggest thing is your confidence, your presence and just being
a part of the program that you're at. UM. So
we're gonna take a break and then we come back.
We're gonna talk about what it looks like on the
other side of recruiting. Once you finally made the team.
You're there what life has called cheerer looks like um,
(26:38):
everything like that, and UM, how awesome it is to
see all of your work pay off. You're listening to
be on the Megaphone. I'm Nathan and I'm Cassidy. And
is it the College Athletes met h Welcome back to
(26:59):
Beyond the Megaphone on the College Athletes Network. This is
Cassidy and I'm Nathan. Subscribe to our podcast. You don't
miss this show. Okay, So we are past recruiting. We
are on the team. Best day of your life. You
get that phone call. I remember, Oh my gosh, the
day in April. We made the team. Been locked in
(27:21):
the house for like five weeks. I'm going literally insane,
and UM, I get an email and Julie's like, hey,
we'd like to meet UM with all the guys UH
to talk about moving forward in the tryout process. And
I was like, oh, sweet, I've made it to the
next round of triuns. I made the team. UM. We
get on the phone and Julie's there and she's like
(27:44):
real serious before she starts talking UM, and I'm sweating.
I'm like in the corner of my house, like just
trying to like have like the most professional background as
I can. UM. And so we get on and she's like, Okay,
this is everybody. She looks around. She pauses, and I
was like, oh my gosh, maybe I didn't make it.
(28:05):
I don't know. And she was like, all right, you
guys are looking at her. Two teammates congratulations around the
team and I flip out, dude, like it was so
so amazing. UM. I remember like having to like turn
my camera off and I was just like going nuts.
My parents were in the other room. They were like, yeah, yeah,
were you on. I was like yes, I man, we're good.
(28:25):
So we're all freaking out like on mute. But um, yeah,
best toy ever. So fast forward. What is life like
as a college cheerloderm? Okay, so we'll take you through
a little bit about what it is, what it all entails. Um.
What I was always super interested in was, um, all
of the perks that you get as a college athlete,
(28:46):
you know, growing up wanting to be a college baseball player.
I always had that in my mind, like, oh my gosh,
you know, you get to do all these things. You
have the weight room, the meals, you know, all the
cool clothes. You know. So as at what I what
it looks like at I you is, Um, we have
athletic dining halls Tobias, which is amazing food, uh, lunch
(29:10):
and dinner, and it's super super helpful for me to
keep my weight in check and keep make sure that
I'm eating the right things to fuel myself for practice
for games, you know, everything like that. Um, the weight room,
Oh my gosh, I love it. Um. I sound like
a meathead right now. No. Um, but I do like
(29:31):
having space, you know, like you know, you go to
like a planet fitness and it's just super crammed up,
especially in January every year. UM. But UM, you know,
it's just it's just nice to be surrounded by cream
and Crimson while you're working out. You've got other athletes
in there, which is super cool. Like you have a
whole wall of windows facing the football stadium. UM, and
(29:53):
like me, being a sports geek, like baseball will come
in and I'm just over there staring at them. I'm like,
oh my gosh, they're so cool, you know what I mean. UM,
So that's just been really fun. And then you get
to go work out with your teammates, which is nice
too because they're also your closest friends. So it's kind
of like a win win there. UM. State of the
art equipment, you know, it's just super nice to have.
(30:16):
And you also get plans, right, you have UM workout plans,
you have regiments that you're supposed to follow, um. And
all of this is just getting you in a position
to perform the best that you can. And it's a
really good thing to buy into early and go often,
you know. Um. And then you've got all of the
(30:37):
the merch the gear, the backpacks, the sweatpants, the you know,
the the zip ups. You know, all of this is
just in my opinion, fruits of your labor. Right, you've
sacrificed all throughout high school. If you cheered in high school,
you've sacrificed all throughout your training. If you join in college. Um,
you know, these things that you've done to make the
(30:57):
team is a sacrifice of your time, right, and so
this is kind of like the reward for working so
hard beforehand. And so there's all the perks. But then
you have your full time job, which is not only
school but cheer. Right, So what does what does practice
look like? Because I'm co ed? What does it look
(31:18):
like for all girls? Wow? Girl? Now I don't have
exact measurements because I haven't competed or done the whole
thing this year yet. So based off of you know,
prior knowledge, I am like I U all Girls probably
biggest fan ever. So I don't know a little bit,
not a little bit here and there, but basically All
(31:38):
Girls probably the more intense team that we have. They
compete and still do the game days basketball, they do
women's basketball, men's basketball, and football. Um so our football
season schedule looks pretty similar. I would say, uh, still,
you know we have Tuesday Thursday game on this year,
we have a game on Friday. We get a Friday game,
(31:59):
but most of them a game most time on Saturdays. UM.
And then as it's starts to get closer to November ish, uh,
Crimston will start Sunday practices to get prepped for competition. UH.
Then over breaks. From my understanding, they don't go home
(32:19):
on the breaks. They stay here. They're doing two days,
three days practicing NonStop getting ready for competition, which is
in January. So they'll go to Orlando in January and
compete at u c A College Nationals. And then once
that's done, that's still in the midst of women's and
men's basketball. So it's still in the midst of classes. Yes,
(32:43):
still in the midst of classes too. Don't forget about
that because I do it sometimes. UM, it's a lot
that time period I think is the most intense. After that,
it's a lot of just focused on making sure we're
getting the games done. UM and then March Madness and
all that fun stuff. But yeah, they they definitely we
(33:05):
have a very intense schedule in terms of time management
and committing to everything that they've committed to. UM. Finding
a way to balance all of that is a process
as an incoming you know, freshman, it's gonna be a
lot just because it's such a big adjustment. You know,
(33:25):
you're basically on your own, like you schedule your own
classes for school. You if you're on the college team,
you have these commitments that you've made to be at practices,
to go to your workouts, and to cheer the games
and stuff like that. Um So, finding that balance of Okay,
I need time to rest, I'm gonna do this here,
(33:45):
I go to practice this time, and then I have
homework after this. Like, it's a process and it's a lot.
Um but if that's something you know you're willing to
commit to, then go for it. That's why you know
the numbers dropped so far down once you get to college.
Um it's a it's a big commitment. It's a sacrifice.
Like we talked about beforehand, once you're on the team,
(34:06):
that doesn't mean that your hard works over really means
it's just starting. It is very much just um so,
and so that's what the competition aspect looks like as
far as my team, um as game day, you know,
we are the hype crew of the university essentially. Um
you know, we gotta be on every single game. We
cheer football, men's basketball. UM. We'll do some pr stuff
(34:28):
throughout the year. Both teams will do that UM. But really,
what's in my opinion intriguing about UM, the spirit crew
side of UM cheer rather than competing, is you get
out what you put in. You know, you can go
and you can only practice there two or three required
practice a week, and that's totally fine, and that's more
(34:51):
than acceptable, and you will be a great athlete and
have a great experience. What we've liked to do UM
when you were on co ed as and as as
well as some of my teammates. We go every day.
You know, it's it's kind of like creating a routine
for yourself. And the more you go, the more you
(35:11):
get out of it. You know, your skills come more naturally.
Game day feels more relaxed because you're not worrying about
those skills, you know, UM being on a co ed
team during game day, we're a very stunt heavy program.
Not as much tumbling, UM, not as much motions. For
the guys we are bread and butter is stunting, you know,
So you go every day if you can, just to
(35:33):
make sure that when you get out there on the field,
there's not a question. You know. The last thing I
want to be doing in a stunt is saying to myself,
who I really hope I hit this stunt, because now
I've already I've already failed, right, because now we're worried
about it. Like we said before, the confidence is key.
And so you know, getting out there on game days
(35:53):
knowing that you belong out there what you do UM
is a is a good reminder to have that, I think.
So let's talk about reputations as a true leader, okay,
because this is something that really no one has had
to experience before the social media age, right, no one
had like our parents. Our parents parents didn't really have
to deal with the social media age. And how how
(36:16):
much harder it is for UM athletes too, UM maintain
that that reputation. Yeah, I feel like well, first starters obviously,
you know, the stereotype of at least a female cheerleader, it's,
you know, we're dumb, and we're blonde and stupid and
you know whatever, and we are just there for looks, um,
(36:40):
when at the end of the day, we're obviously not
just there for that. You know, we're passionate about what
we do, and we're committed to this sport and we
work hard. We work incredibly hard to not only put
out a good game day, but to also have other
people looking at us and think, wow, they actually look
really good and they do more than just yea. UM.
(37:03):
But I think it an important part that goes into
especially being a female cheerleader, UM, is making sure you're
keeping up. You know, you're being kind to people, You're
representing your team well, you're representing your school well. Because
at the end of the day, when you're in college,
your college cheerleader, you're not only representing yourself, but you're
(37:23):
representing everyone who wears your programs shirt. You're representing your college. UM.
And you want to make sure that that reputation is
being upheld to a high standard. UM. Something we always
say as a program, as a school athletic department is
you're a part of something bigger than yourself. UM. And
(37:46):
keeping that just like in the back of your mind
when you're posting on social media, like you needn't think
is this gonna be representing myself in my program? Well? Um,
And I think once you get in the groove of
you know this I'm committed to this. I am wanting
to do college cheer. I want to be a part
of this said program. Being held to a higher holding
(38:09):
yourself to a higher standard is not the difficult part.
It's if that's something that you really want, um. But yeah,
at the end of the day, it's just if if
something is part, If you want to be a part
of said program. And you see how there are other
childers hold themselves on social media, in public, in a
(38:32):
at an event for publicity and all that stuff, you
want to replicate that to the best of your ability. Um.
There have been so many times where we're at a
basketball game or you know, especially since this has happened,
where little girls will come up to me and my
teammates and you know, want to take a picture with
us because they look up to you like you're not
(38:53):
only upholding yourself for you know, your coaches and people
who older, the older generations, but also for the younger
athletes who want to be just like you. You are
always UM under the microscope as a college athlete. This
is outside of cheer. UM cheer, especially because we are
known for being leaders, right it's in the name cheer leaders.
(39:17):
We are seeing we are on the field, um So
you know it, and it's and frankly, it's not fair, right,
It's not fair to be held to a higher standard
than the average person, to your peer, to your friend
who's living in your dorm, who you know who can
sleep until noon and you know this, that and the
other who doesn't have to go to class, who doesn't
have to maintain a certain g p A. It's not fair.
(39:38):
But it's a responsibility that's worth it, Okay, not only
just for your sport, but in life, having responsibility, maintaining yourself,
holding yourself to a high standard, the highest standard as
possible is a good habit to have. It's a good
skill skill to figure out early. Um And we're not
and no one should ever be asking for perfection, right,
(39:59):
but we ask for your best, right, That's what our
coaches asked for. That's where teammates ask of each other.
Um So, just knowing that and keeping yourself aware of
I'm I need to be held at a higher standard
because I'm an example for others. Um So I think
that's the biggest thing. And like we said, you do
(40:21):
those things, the reward comes naturally, you know. So thanks
for listening. To Beyond the Megaphone on the College Athletes Network.
I'm Nathan and I'm Cassidy. Make sure to subscribe to
our podcast. You never miss another episode. Thanks so much
for your time, and we'll talk to you again so soon.
Beyond the Megaphone has been a presentation of I Heart
(40:44):
Radio and the College Athletes Network.
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