Mentally visualize a high school football game. Think about the bright lights, the smells from the concession stand, and the roar of the marching band. Now visualize the cheerleaders. Imagine them as small acrobatic aliens chanting “go-mustangs-go!” Strange right? An alien cheerleader is exactly what I looked like my senior year of high school. The varsity uniform was a tight fitting long sleeve with matching mini skirt. This is the modern style typical for most teams; the main differences are team colors, lettering, and embroidery. However, ours looked like they were made with aluminum foil sewed on black nylon, with stripes of red and blue glitter on the arms, and a huge “TJ” embroidered in the center. We were supposed to the cute all American cheerleaders, but instead, our uniforms made us look like glittery silver aliens from the tackiest planet in the solar system. It was terrible! My team and I were ridiculed the full two weeks we had to wear those garbage bags. The center of attention was what was on our backs, instead of our routines. The uniform, in my opinion, is just as important as the talent and skill any cheerleader (or team) possesses.
In high school, I was an all American cheerleader. I must admit, I initially made the decision to try out for the cheer team solely for the uniform. The uniforms at the time were vintage inspired and they were beautiful. It was a red and blue tightly fit knit sweater with matching skirt. Very simple, yet very pretty, and I was determined to wear one! In truth, I had no cheer experience what so ever, but I was already an athlete and thought, “how hard can this honestly be?” How incredibly naïve I was! If I was to make the team and earn my uniform I had to learn how to jump, split, tumble, dance and cheer all within a weeks’ time. I poured my heart into it, let the adrenaline take over, and prayed that I learned