As a freshman in high school, I thought I had cheerleaders pegged. I believed everything I'd seen on TV and in movies. They were the hot, popular girls who looked down their noses at the rest of us and who were as far as I was concerned "fake."When I was a sophomore working on the school newspaper there were even two girls who affectionately called themselves "Fake One" and "Fake Two." They were popular, they were gorgeous, they were both blond, and they were both named Jennifer. I'm not sure if the "fake" nicknames referred to the amount of time, make-up and hair spray that went into their appearance (this was the 80's), to the facade of professionalism they could each almost immediately put on when they had to deal with advertising clients or school officials, or to the fact that they seemed to have an aura of confidence and enthusiasm on the outside but struggled with the same pressures, anxieties and self-doubt that the rest of us do.
Wherever the nicknames came from they were both anything but fake. They were the real deal. One was a cheerleader and another was on pom squad. Both squads practiced everyday on concrete after school in the brutal Phoenix, Arizona sun. Both Jennifers may have looked like every high school boy's dream, but I doubt either of them had time for boyfriends because they were each involved in a variety of clubs, church and civic organizations, student publications and student government and STILL managed to maintain stellar grades.
That's when I first gained respect for cheerleaders. Shadow Mountain High School had around 2,600 students. For either of them to even get on their Varsity squads was an enormous achievement. Unlike the popularity contest or audition for senior cheerleaders that we see on TV and in the movies, competing for a handful of spots with dozens of other candidates for a panel of coaches and judges at a AAAA school is a huge ordeal. But one Jennifer also went on to become Managing Editor of our school paper (ranked in the top 10% of scholastic newspapers nationnally by the Columbia Scholastic Press Association) and the other Jennifer became our Student Body President and had to make a number of presentations and appeals to the school board on controversial issues.
So I for one had no misconceptions about cheerleaders being dumb blondes, sluts, or petty debutantes. No, they were forced to be reckoned with. Be that as it may, I never imagined myself ever being one, let alone coaching them some day.
It's Shadow Mountain, It's Shadow MountainThe pride of every MatadorSing of our honor, sing of our gloryIt's Shadow Mountain now we're for.
Now and forever, always endeavor
To battle on to victory
For we will never stop 'til we're on top,
So fight on, Shadow Mountain, FIGHT
Ah the 80's, the most perfect time there ever was. Big hair and huge "brick" cell phones.
Back then they had Cheer, Pom, and Drill and you couldn't tell the difference because they all wore cheer uniforms. But I just sat in the stands and watched.
SMHS had great baseball teams, average basketball & volleyball, lousy football, but a pretty good band.
