Since i was young, I’ve been in and out of every type of sport and constantly on the go! Starting young with swimming, then onto gymnastics, then rugby (which unfortunately led to a broken arm a few years in) and now cheerleading! I’ve loved each and every one of them and of course all the extra sports and activities in between!
When i played rugby, i was living in Dubai and playing for the Dubai Hurricanes. It was a very close community, with the rugby mums at every session, and dads cheering us all on at our fortnightly tournaments that took place all over the UAE. It was a great time and i loved every second of it!
Cheerleading is the main sport i now do in university. I’d never tried it before until a year ago, and i fell in love instantly! and trust me, it’s not all pom poms and ‘GIVE ME AN ‘A”, it’s a lot more physically demanding than that! No one truly understands how much work it is and how difficult it can actually be, so TAB Aberystwyth joined for a taster session and wrote this article on cheerleading!
In my first year of cheerleading, i was what you call a Flyer; the person that’s thrown about in the air, and now, in my second year, I’ve opted to be a Base; a person who throws the flyer in the air, to work on my upper body strength! Its been great, these guns just keep growing!
Im not the most flexible, but theres never a wrong time to pull a scorp or a scale! For example these from my Spain holiday with George!
For those who don’t know much about cheerleading, or are still not convinced, here are a few videos of my team the ‘Aberystwyth University Tarannau Cheerleaders’ from our competition season last year (in which we totally wiped the floor, first places all round! – National Champion status!). I really want to add some videos of a few moves during practice but until i manage to get them, these will do for now, and that just means another cheer post on its way!!
Me holding our first place trophy!
Firstly, this was our main routine, its the group with the largest amount of people performing. We completed at level 2 all girls! This video makes me tear up every time, after all the hard work and stress we all went through, to perform this so well and come out with a first was incredible! This was the second time we performed, as the first time we performed, someone was badly injured, stopping the routine and giving us about 30 minutes to work with and rearrange the routine as we were one member short!!
Secondly, is my level two stunt group! Unfortunately i was injured 3 days before the competition and was left in a neck brace, but luckily the wonderful flyer, Giulia, stepped in, learnt it, and they came out with a first!
So many emotions rush through you during these performances and when sitting on the mat surrounded by all the other teams during the trophy ceremony, you’re shaking with nerves!
I hope this post shows a bit of insight into cheerleading as well as me being able to share a passion!
With the amount of training I’ve been doing recently (Average of 3-4 hours a day) I’ve thought its been the perfect time to begin my Protein World Slimming Shakes! So in the next few weeks ill put up a post on my progress so far!
– Lana xxx
Snack On Life 