Kaley Stevens -- Cheer 10/11

 As you all know. last year I made a very difficult decision and decided to quit playing basketball. It was a really rough time for me and a really hard decision to make. I had been playing basketball since I was 5 and I have always loved it. I really do love the sport of basketball. Many factors led to my decision but honestly it was the best decision I could have made for myself. I have been so happy since I quit. I don't dread going to basketball and being around toxic coaches. I did not want to go without doing a sport. So, I decided to try out for cheer. We had tryouts and I made the team. It was a super cool experience. I had always wanted to but just never did because no basketball coach would have been okay with that. I am so glad I did though. Just the few months that I have been a cheerleader have been so fun. The practices are always so fun. The atmosphere is always so great too. I don't dread having to go to practice which is something very new to me. A few weeks back we had cheer camp and It was a really fun time for us all. We really got to just have fun and bond while working on our skills. We had friendly competitions with the junior high which made everything even more fun. ( I am super competitive by the way). Cheer has honestly opened my eyes and made me see that it is okay to take risks. This has made me want to step out of my comfort zone and do things I normally would not. With all this being said, I encourage everyone else to step out of their comfort zone. It paid off big time for me. I love it and I love that i finally found a team that feels like an actual team. I cannot wait for cheer season to get here. I feel like its going to be a blast. This new experience has been so good for me. It really paid off.