Take me out to the ball park... and cheerleading!

This is Kiddo Numero Dos. She's my favorite daughter! Yes, I only have one daughter but she's still my favorite one.

This is Kat with her best friend, M.

When Kat was small, we tried to find a hobby that she liked. After several unsuccessful and painful attempts (for Kat and for me!), we found the one that was perfectly suited for Kat's personality and physical skills. Gymnastics. She loved it and was quite good at it! The sport often made me a nervous wreck. Have you ever watched your five-year-old, favorite daughter cartwheel, flip and roll across a beam several feet off the ground? That will pretty much guarantee nerve problems. Let's not even talk about the uneven bars.

After we moved to Texas five years ago, we immediately went about finding a new gymnastics school for her. We found one we liked and all was well for the first year. Until she spotted them.

The Cheerleaders.

I'd heard the stories about Texas cheerleaders. And their moms. I'd even seen a television movie about them. I wasn't sure I was prepared to be one. I'm pretty much against murder-for-hire to advance your daughter's cheerleading prospects.

But, Kat insisted that cheerleading was what she really, really wanted to do! They were using a lot of the skills Kat already possessed. But cheerleading offered more. Stunts. Cool uniforms. Pretty ribbons tied around their ponytails. And pompoms. Thus began our cheerleading career.

Kat has been performing with a non-competitive show team for the last few years. The team is made up of girls who started out taking classes with the school. The girls are invited to join the show team if they are able to perform at an advanced skill level. Throughout the year, the show team performs at events in our community and during half-time shows for some of the semi-pro and college teams around us.

This past Sunday, the cheer team and some of the school's gymnasts were invited to perform prior to the start of our AAA farm team's baseball game. The girls were very disappointed when their performance time was reduced to only three minutes. Then, the park's facility manager went back on his previous agreement and told them they could not use their mats. And, the groundskeepers watered the grass - while the girls were warming up. Big deal? Well, it was to them. No mats and a wet, slippery ground meant that they were unable to do any stunts. Their routine had to be modified in an instant. Even the gymnasts were limited to simple, slow tumble passes.

Why tell you all of this? Well, because Kat would only allow me to post the video of them performing with the above disclaimers. Otherwise, you might think they stink. (Her words.)

I did (give the disclaimer), they didn't (stink) so here's the video. Kat is in the front most of the time - point position. She is also the one who starts and leads the yells.

Just when I was beginning to feel comfortable in this role as a cheer mom, I learned this past week that we are about to enter a whole new dimension beginning this fall.

Competition. Pray for us.