I was so excited I made the varsity team as a ninth grader. The cheerleading season had been going great! About three weeks before the state competition my shoulder started popping in and out of place. This concerned me, but being the hard head I am I kept going. After state I told my parents about the problems with my shoulder I had been happening. Of course they made me go to the doctor. The doctor made me go through three weeks of therapy to see if that would help. After three weeks I went back and there was no improvement. I was faced with the decision with either having surgery or leaving it alone and it continuing to get worse. After much debating I decided to have surgery. After the surgery I was faced with four to five months of intense physical therapy. I was not sure I would be cleared by the doctor in time to try out for cheerleading the following year. I had to work extremely hard to make this happen. I thought this would be the end of my shoulder problems.

Unfortunately I was wrong. My shoulder began to do the same popping out again. I made it through the season without being extremely injured. When the season was over I went back to the doctor and he recommended me to a shoulder specialist. I went there and within two weeks I was back in the surgery room to have the same procedure done just more intense this time. After surgery I was faced with once again four to five months of physical therapy. The therapy was more extreme than the past time.

Articles.
Clearinghouse.
College
Recruiting.
NCAA
Recruiting.
NCAA Sports
History.
Resources.
Sports History.

What do I send
to the coach.

I still have problems with my shoulders but I have learned how to deal with these problems. My family, teammates, and especially my coach encourage me daily to never give up. Cheerleading has taught me a lot. Perseverance, I believe, is the most important thing I have learned. If you want to accomplish something, you can never, never give up! Newt Gingrich once said, “Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did.” This quote inspired me through out this difficult time of surgeries. This does not just apply to cheerleading or other sports, this applies to life.