25 Years

1993. That was the last time Troy Colts Varsity Cheer had been titled league champs. On February 3rd, 2018, that was changed. My team and I fought hard, and we made history. After scoring a record-breaking 235.7 for round one, we were feeling good about the other two rounds to come. Round 2 approached, "Troy, you may approach the mat and begin when ready," boomed over the loudspeakers of the gym. Anxiety-ridden, those of us not in the round made our way to the side of the mat to cheer on our team. They hit every skill without a flaw. Again, we were feeling good. Round 3, the round that's entirely stunting, was drawing near. We gave the 16 girls in the round a good pep talk and ran to the side to watch. Another flawless round, we got this in the bag. Awards came and so did the greatest feeling I've ever had, "...And for first place, Troy!". We won first, a clean sweep for all 3 league meets. My heart raced; we really did this. "And now, for the league titles..." I could feel my hands being squeezed by those of my teammates. We were excited beyond words, after 25 years, we changed the game. "And your OAA White League Champion Team for 2018 is..." I couldn't bear the suspense as we sat there hand and hand. And then, the announcer said the greatest four-letter word, "TROY!". As we jumped and cheered in pure bliss, I thought about my team, my sport, and the reputation it's given. The amount of times I've heard other students talk down about the cheer team, saying that we're terrible and that we don't win for a reason, is incredible. How could students who've never been to one of our competitions and never seen us score first say that? The thing people don't understand is that at a cheer competition, you're against anywhere from 6-20 teams, unlike any other sport. A football or basketball game is a team vs team event, whereas cheer is many teams all fighting for the number one title. Now, our year, 2018, will be on that banner in the gym as league champions, and anyone who wants to question my sport and my team can see it for themselves. TCVC's 2018 competitive team changed the game, after 25 long years.