June 18, 2017
"You can't do that, you will fall."
Ocean's experience happened between the ages of 10-12 years old.
Being scared and consequently falling on my face when I was asked to do a skill that I had never done before, was for me quite terrifying. I did it because I did not want to disappoint in a tryout situation. This led to a complete mental block for that particular skill and has really been a hardship for me this year in cheer. I can do it but mentally I get scared every time I compete; I doubt myself, "you can't do that, you will fall." At this point it doesn't just affect me, it affects the entire team because of me. In order to overcome it, I spent hours upon hours in the gym doing it so many times that I could no longer do it wrong. It doesn't sound like a big deal but it is, we work all year and put hours and hours in the gym every week to do a 2 min 30 sec routine. It has to be flawless, 26 people working together to get a 0, meaning no deductions. It's amazing when it happens all of the work is worth it! I don't want to let myself or my team down. Our team won NCA National Champions this year, the first team ever in the state of Ohio to win at NCA. We made Cheer History!
Written by Ocean Henthorn
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