For me, cheerleading has always been a family affair. My older sister, my mom, three of my aunts, my cousins and even my great aunt and uncle (in the 1930s!) cheered. And for two very lucky years in junior high, my mom was my coach.
She’d been coaching at the school since I was in the first grade, so even before I was allowed to cheer I spent many of my after-school hours in the gym watching my mom coach the older girls. In no time, I was learning the routines during practice, and by the time my older sister was cheering, I was helping with the choreography.
My mom and I on my wedding day
When I was finally old enough to join the squad, my mom was still at the helm. We had a lot of fun, and spent so many afternoons in the backyard and in the living room in front of a big hanging mirror working on routines. The whole family would get involved—my mom would count, my sis would stand in (by this time a big league varsity cheerleader), my dad would videotape us, and my brother would cringe and roll his eyes (cheerleading wasn’t exactly his thing). Some of our best routines were created this way.
While some mom/coach and daughter/athlete teams might hit a few bumps, we had fun. One summer at camp, the instructors surprised us by having all the coaches come out and do a routine. And there was my mom, cartwheeling out and eventually ending the routine as the top in a stunt. It was hysterical! That’s not to say there wasn’t some drama along the way. I had to work twice as hard as every other member of my squad to prove that I’d earned my position on talent, not because I was the coach’s daughter. And my mom had to push me twice as hard as her other team members to prove she wasn’t playing favorites. But the experience made my mom a better coach and me a better athlete, and we became so much closer for it. And that’s because every victory was a shared victory, and every heartbreak was a shared loss. But we had each other to lean on.
I’m so thankful that I got to share that experience with my mom, and we’ll always share a love of all things cheer. (We still call each other when a cheer competition is on TV, and the first time I met Lawrence “Herkie” Herkimer, I called her squealing with excitement.)
So if your mom (or dad!) is your coach, I hope you know how lucky you are. Through cheerleading, you’re getting the best bonding time. You’re learning to work together and compromise in new ways, and best of all, you’re making memories for life.
Thanks, Mom! Love you!
Marisa
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About Marisa Walker
3 responses so far ↓
Stacy Braswell Jun 1, 2010 at 2:28 pm
Ive been coaching for 20 years. I started a small rec team in The Woodlands in 1998. My oldest started out as mascot. When he turned 11 he took it off and went to one competition as a cheerleader, flyer, tumbler. He hated it LOL after that he was DONE! So I turned my focus on my then 3 year old. He was on my show team as a show mascot for a year and he learned to count like this “one, two, down up, down up.”
One year when he was six we had a flier bail on us right before comp. I put him in the routine in her place. He got off the mat and was stoked. The passion began. He is 13 now and still very much in love with moms sport and may end up getting elected captain of our senior rec Level 2 team this year!! (our average age is 13) He told me last week he was only going to have one kid, unless it doest like cheerleading then he will have another until one of them likes it. LOL He talks of building me a gym and continuing the BOGC legacy.
Mercedes Welsch Jun 1, 2010 at 3:33 pm
My mother has been my coach since i was born. Here and there i would have a diffent coach, but the coach i have always have was my mother. I am a cheerleader and a gymnast, who loves what she does. I would be in the gym even if i did not have class, working on things that needed to be improved. My mother would help when she could. But she helped all the time at home. We are always working on things because i want to make the team or be on a cheer squad. Sometimes we dont get along, but in the gym we get along because she knows what she is talking about, and i want to learn from the best. My mother has been a cheerleader and a gymnast for a long time until she got pregnat with my sister. Then she went on to coaching and has been coaching for a lifetime it feels like. But i love my mother for wanting to help me be better and do what i love best good. My mother is an amazing mother and coach. She is always trying to keep me safe but always pushes me to be good.
Thank you mom for always being there for me,
Love Mercedes Welsch
Denise DiFulvio Walker Jun 9, 2010 at 12:25 am
Many of my fondest memories are of coaching you and your sister in cheerleading. Cheerleading was my passion, and to see my daughters embrace this sport with the same enthusiasm as I had was a joy without measure.
As a journalist, you are my aspiration coming to fruition. As a forever cheerleader, you are my love, my daughter, my pride.
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