Written By: Amanda Adrianne Angeles (DLSZ 2023)
In May 2021, I was assigned as the captain of the DLSZ Animo Squad. Because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, my team and I thought there would not be any competitions, pep rallies, and other performances which disheartened us. After all, how would a cheerleading competition work online? Despite this knowledge, we continued to train every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday as if we were entering a real competition.
As August 2021 came, we heard the news about the National Cheerleading Competition (NCC) reopening its doors. The DLSZ Animo Squad has already competed in the National Cheerleading Competition. In fact, the last time we competed for this was in 2018. But due to the present situation, the competition was different. It was the first time that we competed online.
We immediately said yes to the competition. As captain, I released a Google Form to know who wanted to compete. We had evaluations where each girl performed their skills and the coaches judged them based on it. After several days, the coaches decided on their final 16 girls.
Excitement rolled around me as I heard my name called as one of the competitors. There were four categories/divisions: Pom Team, Pom Duo, Cheer Duo, and Cheer Team. Each of the 16 girls was assigned in divisions based on their skills and I was fortunately placed under the Cheer Team.
We prepared for the competition for two months. The training was held every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday for two hours and Wednesday for three hours.. If we excuse ourselves from training at least two times, our slot would be given away to another member. It was exhausting having to train four times a week while balancing my schoolwork. Yet, I continued to push through because as captain, I wanted to be an inspiration for everyone. With my schoolwork piling up and training to attend, it was hard to continue pushing myself. However, when we finally finished building and learning our routine, I knew that it was all worth it.
We finally finished our routine, but an even harder challenge came up. We had to film ourselves doing this routine with our hair, makeup, and uniform ready. We had to be perfectly in sync or else the videos would turn out poorly. We were required to submit two perfectly shot videos. We filmed a total of 10 perfect shots on August 15, August 18, August 22, August 25, and August 27 even though we were only required to film two videos per day. Personally, I had to film over 15 times. There were times when my toes weren’t pointed, I didn’t hit my handstand, or my camera would die in the middle of the routine. It was frustrating because I knew it had to be perfect. Yet, I thought of all the other girls working just as hard as I am. I did not want to let them down.
We were able to complete and choose our perfect runs. We chose the videos where everyone was perfectly synchronized and all of the executions were on point. Our coaches edited our videos and we excitedly waited for the results.
On December 3, 2021, the NCC announced that they will be live-streaming the awards. I sent the Facebook link to the DLSZ Animo Squad group chat and encouraged everyone to watch. We were all scared to know the final results. I thought to myself, “What if we didn’t place?”, “Would the coaches be proud of us despite the award we got?” and “Is the team proud of what we’ve accomplished?”. Thoughts rolled around my head which turned into anxiousness. Nonetheless, I knew that I was already so proud of my team and the accomplishments we went through.
The DLSZ Animo Squad was awarded four awards. All of our competitors/teams placed. The Cheer Team placed 2nd-runner-up, the Pom Duo placed 1st-runner-up, the Cheer Duo placed Champions, and the Pom Team placed Champions. I was ecstatic that we had placed in all four categories/divisions, but more beyond proud of my team. We were all spamming our group chats saying congratulations, and I will never forget that day. The team holds a big place in my heart, and seeing them happy celebrating together made me feel fulfilled as their captain.
After everything that happened last year, I learned one of the most important lessons that I continue to bring with me until today. It’s not the award that matters; whether it’s bronze, gold, silver, or none at all. Despite it being exhausting, the journey each of us went through is what mattered. It brought each of us closer together in spite of the online set-up.
During face-to-face competitions, we would hear the same quote constantly over and over again. “Enter the mats with no fear, leave the mats with no regrets.” Despite us not being on the usual mats we train on, I knew that each of us 16 girls left the competition behind with no regrets.