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