Almost There

In about 12hours time, my SAJC kids are gonna show everyone what they had worked for in the past 1 1/2 months.

The long hours of trainings, the sweat, the tears... in exchange for 2minutes on the competition ground.

Everytime a flyer touched the ground from a fall, I made the whole team do push-ups.
Everytime a flyer unlocked on a stunt, I made them repeat the stunt, until it was perfect.
Sometimes I wonder if I'm too strict and cold-blooded.
The irony is, I do it cos I care about their safety.
I do not want them to go onto competition ground with wobbly stunts.
If a stunt wasn't executed properly, anyone stands a chance of injuring himself/herself.
I know, cos I fell before.
And I do not want it to happen to any one of my kids.

And I need them to take this sport seriously.
In my opinion, a strong foundation is everything in cheerleading. No matter how hard it is, you have to get the basic moves right. That's the only way to reduce the risk of injuries.
I do not want them to think that as long as they can hit lower level stunts, they can move on to higher level stunts, without proper techniques and a strong foundation.
I seldom shout at the seniors now, cos they already have the foundation, and I trust them with alot of stunts. But when they forgot their basic, I would not hesitate to remind them, the hard way.
The juniors still have a long way to go in building a good foundation. But once they get it right, they can learn any higher level stunts fast.
I wanna stay with them till they get it right.

I'm a clown when I'm training with Spectum, esp when Regine is around.
But I have to be strict as a coach.
There might be ppl who do not approve of my coaching ways.
But if they can learn everything that I wanna teach them and grow, I dun mind being hated.

Sam and I talked after training on Fri. She was glad that I can control the guys, cos they are pretty rowdy. I certainly hope they can stay controlled. I'm not as big as CR and KJ. And I'm a gal.

And she asked me if I think they can move on to SKM finals.
My answer?
I told her I've never doubt the team and the kids' ability.
I believe if they are willing to commit, they can make it through the prelim.

I showed Ed the routine just now. He was pretty surprised I could get two single base extensions into the routine. Yes, not one, but two. Not to mention one of the flyers has not even done a proper elevator before, and I forced her onto a single base. I screamed at her for two full trainings, to make sure she locks on the stunt. She cried.

But in the end, the stunt went up beautifully. I'm proud of her.

The J1 guys worked very hard this week. And to be able to do what they are doing within 1 1/2 months wasn't easy for them.

I'm glad I get to coach these guys. I'm proud of them.

The J1 gals started off shy and clueless about cheerleading. And when the hell trainings start, they had to learn body control fast, and overcome the fear of going onto a stunt. It didn't go smooth and easy for them.

But these gals didn't give up. I'm proud of them.

The seniors guided their juniors and took care of them. And I didn't have to worry much about their stunts.

For all the effort they put in, I'm proud of them.