College Cheer Camp
The anxiety grew and grew as my very first college cheerleading camp approached. During my cheerleading career, I had been to tons of cheerleading camps with my middle school and high school teams. The difference now was that I would be attending UCA (Universal Cheerleading Association) camp instead of NCA (National Cheerleading Association) Camp. Also, I was about to experience not having all of my best friends by my side. Instead, I had a group of strangers who I knew nothing about.
A week before camp, our team got together at Kutztown for two team bonding practices. We spent the next two days learning all of the basics of college cheerleading and what to expect for the upcoming season. All of the fifteen freshmen were filled with excitement but yet so much worry as to what was next.
The night before we left for camp, some of us got together at Emma’s house to talk about last minute worries and be able to car pool together to our first college cheer camp. We all unpacked and repacked our suitcases making sure we had all parts of our camp gear. Everyone was so excited to head to the University of Scranton since none of us had ever been to the campus before.
The next morning, the five of us loaded up Amanda’s Jetta with our mounds of makeup, hair products, clothing, bedding, and of course food. One thing we learned as soon as we started packing the car was that cheerleaders definitely don’t know how to pack lightly. We ended up having to sit on the trunk to close it and sit on our pillows during the car ride.
After two long hours, we arrived to the University of Scranton. The campus was covered with cheerleaders from all over the northeast. I stood there in awe as teams from Wilmington University and University of Delaware stepped off their buses. These teams were held as amazing role models to me because of their reputation and talent. Seeing them was like being at VMA’s meeting your favorite celebrity.
Opening rally began around one o’clock in the gymnasium, where we met the UCA staff members who would be helping us throughout the next four days and saw a performance of some of the material we would be taught. The fun stuff didn’t last long as our coach explained that the next few days would be like cheerleading hell. We would be expected to be at breakfast at seven in the morning and then spend all day in ninety degree weather until around nine o’clock at night. We then participated in mandatory team bonding until all hours of the night.
After our first full day of camp, I was completely miserable. My entire body ached from stunting all day and doing motions that I hadn’t done since last winter. I head sunburn from head to toe that made me look like a tomato. I didn’t use enough common sense to think about breaking in my new cheer shoes before camp, so I spent the next few days with huge blisters all over my toes. As if the blisters weren’t enough, my feet ached from practicing on hot turf all day and having the intense heat go through my shoes.
Once our four days had come to an end, I had learned so many new things and created a bond with an amazing group of girls. I never thought I would learn how to base a double high pyramid or play leap frog with a group of strangers for a scavenger hunt. I didn’t think I would learn so many new cheers and dances that they would all start to sound the same. UCA cheerleading camp is something I can not wait to experience again.
