An open letter to the kids they call the gym hoppers…….
Gym Hopper!
Yes, I’ve been called it before, but to be honest, I’ve never really understood why people say it like it’s so negative. You have to shrug it off and smile and not let the negativity stand in your way. Go after what you want, even if it’s the harder path to take. Believe me, I should know; I’ve gone after what I wanted since I started this journey. You call it hopping, but I call it goal getting! I’ve been to 5 gyms in 7 years, and every single one of them has made me the cheerleader I am today. I’ve learned so much through the years from all of the programs I have attended and all of the coaches I’ve had along the way. Some supported my decisions to try other programs while others didn’t, but either way they all have contributed to my success. “Great things never came from comfort zones.”
I’m a huge fan of inspirational quotes on Pinterest, and you will read a little bit more about that later. Gym hopper. It’s a label that some people put on cheerleaders who decide to change the gym they attend more than a few times. I guess more than the average athlete? But who even decides how many gym changes are too many? And why is it a bad thing to change gyms?! There are two things I normally do when something is on my mind or I’m upset about something, which in this case is being called a gym hopper. The first thing I do is tumble, and the second is I write. Well since I’ve already tumbled today, I guess it’s time for me to write it all down. I started all-star cheerleading when I was seven years old, but I had no idea what my cheer future would hold. Cheerleading became an addiction, something I couldn’t live without. I became obsessed with tumbling and worked as hard as I could at that age to be the best. I never complained about going to a practice; I would actually beg my parents to bring me to clinics and camps and travel all over the place, and if I was being bad and I got grounded they’d make me take a day off. That’s how much cheer meant to me. It’s what they would take away to punish me.
I met my best friend, who is more like my sister, the very first practice of my second season. Maddie is the reason I love cheer! She is still my biggest fan to this day. She has believed in me and has supported me through all of the “hops”! My first two years when I started all-star cheer, I was part of a brand new program. We weren’t very good, to be blunt we we barely ever won, but I loved my team and gym anyway. I never cared about winning or losing at that age; I just loved taking the mat at competition and getting that adrenaline rush that goes through your body when your team is called and you start waving to the crowd. At seven and eight years old, I never realized how competitive the sport actually was. I would look at other teams and not be intimidated at all in warm ups. I just loved taking the mat with my team. The older kids on my team, well, they got it, and compared themselves to other teams and were intimated in warm ups. They were competitive, and they wanted to win. They would be upset after every competition when we lost. I would overhear them say “I’m leaving and going to another gym next year.” That was never me. I never based my decision to leave a program on whether we were winning or losing. That decision was always based on whether I was growing in the sport or not.
At the end of my second season, my coaches from my gym asked my mom and dad to open their own cheerleading gym, saying they would come coach for them. That was my first “hop.” I think it shocked everyone, especially me. I was going to have my own gym. They opened Royalty Athletics. The name came from it being a dream come true and a happily ever after, but it wasn’t a fairytale for me because my years at Royalty were short. I competed for my parents’ gym for only two seasons, and guess what? We won! We won a lot, and at the end of their second season, I asked if I could go to another gym. It had nothing to do with winning or losing; we were winning all the time. One of my teams went undefeated the whole season: much love to my Majesty girls and coach Jackie, and the J3 Jewels and coach Tanisha will forever be in my heart. I wasn’t leaving because we were winning or losing. I was gaining new skills and new passes, and my parents’ gym didn’t have a level 5 team for me. I asked that year if I could go to try out at another gym about 45 minutes away. My parents still had their gym, and I only asked to leave to be on a level 5 team. I “hopped” from my own parents’ gym. I was only 10 years old, but I knew what I wanted, and that was to be on a level 5 team. That was one of my hardest seasons emotionally. At my very last competition for Royalty that season, while we were traveling and staying at a hotel, I overheard a mom from the team talking about me while I was in the hallway walking by her room. I’ll never forget what she said: “She may be able to tumble level 5, but she will never fly on a level 5 team.” It broke my heart. However, I can’t thank her enough. She’s the reason for the second “hop;” it was the push I needed to have the courage to try level 5 and to be honest I wanted to prove her wrong. I specifically remember falling in love with Pinterest and creating a secret board called “prove her wrong,” and I would pin inspirational quotes that I would look at on my rides to and from practices. One of my favorites that I would read over and over was, “work hard in silence, let your success be your noise.” So I did.
You never know why things happen, but I’ve been told over and over my entire life that they happen for a reason; so after crying myself to sleep that night, heartbroken that parents were talking so badly about me, I woke up, competed, and knew that I had to move on and chase my dream. I made the final decision to leave my parents’ gym and go after a level 5 team. When I look back I had never been so scared to ask them. I knew it was going to break their hearts watching me cheer for someone else, but I was shocked when the answer was, “we will always support you.” Everything happening for a reason became crystal clear when I met one of my best friends the very second I walked into my first level five try out. He was the reason; if I had never left my gym, I would’ve never met Peyton Keenen, PK, also known in my contacts as my Mike (we love Stranger Things). We clicked; his tumbling was amazing, and it definitely pushed me to work harder on my tumbling. He was my base that season for my first level five team (R5), along with my friend Chloe and my “mom” back spot Steph, who was the mom to our young group and kept us all in line. We had a fun season, especially my carpool (miss you and love you carpool Starz) My stunt group was the only stunt group on the team to hit at every competition that entire season, which was my goal from day one when I was told I would never fly level five. I was so proud of myself and my group because I wanted nothing more than to be able to say I did it. I did what they said couldn’t be done.
At the end of that season, Peyton decided to take a year off, and practices were not the same. Then my friend Chloe decided to try another gym, and my back spot graduated. I felt alone. I wanted to be with a friend so I decided to try out at the same gym where Chloe tried out, this time going for a worlds level five team, but being 12 and one of the youngest trying out, I didn’t know if I would make it. I tried out, and I made it; I “hopped” again. My fourth gym, another uniform, with new team colors to wear. I made my first worlds team, and it was a dream to go to worlds. My team was so close, and everyone on it was like my family. Everyone supported everyone else, and we just clicked; we had something special. My goal that season was to hit at every competition and to try harder passes, and I did it. My ultimate dream was to make it to worlds and hit, and the feeling was amazing. Hitting at my first worlds was something I will cherish forever!
Nolan, KP, and Nick thank you for my amazing season. I loved being the “so extra” group with you. That team and every single person on it will always have a special place in my heart (we stick exclusively together). At the end of that season, one of my friends and teammates, Nick, went ahead and chased a dream all the way to Florida and made it on TGLC! It was amazing watching his dreams come true, and it got me thinking! I wanted my dream team, the gym that I have wanted to be part of since I was 7 years old. This is the gym people would tell my parents I needed to be at, but they looked at them as if they were crazy because they would never drive two hours to get to practices. It’s that gym you have all heard of: the Beast of the East, the world-renowned East celebrity elite. I wanted that team, you know that team, that I’ve been watching and had my heart set on, telling myself if I worked hard enough it could possibly happen for me one day. I’m now 13; I did it, I tried out, and I made M5 bombshells. Thirteen and making this dream team. I’m thirteen years old, finishing my 7th season cheering, at my 5th gym and hopping all the way to practices feeling so proud of myself and all that I have accomplished.
There are a lot of people that judge from the outside in and say things about cheerleaders who have switched gyms but you have to pay no attention to it. I hope that sharing my journey and story shows other cheerleaders to never listen to other people and go after your dreams. Understand that everybody’s journey is their own and nobody’s journey is better than anybody else’s, and if you have to hop your way to your personal success, you have every right to it because it is your life, the people that are judging you from the outside calling you names and not supporting your journey are the same people that can’t make their own dreams become a reality. It’s easier for them to make you feel bad about going after your dreams because they’re not going after their own. I’m confident that if they were given the same opportunity that I was to try out for ECE bombshells they would’ve been there in a heartbeat they wouldn’t of cared how they got there or how many times they hopped to make the team. Chase your dreams, work hard, and never settle. You know what they say, “The journey is just as important as the destination.” I’ll never forget where I started or how far I’ve come! I am forever grateful for each and every team I have been on, each and every teammate I have taken the mat with, every single one of my coaches over the years who have supported me from day one and continue to cheer me on, and I’m even thankful for the ones who didn’t support my choices. Thanks to them, I’m an even stronger athlete. Yes, I have “hopped” and I am happy I did because I have found my home. I never settled! It’s been an amazing season…. Being a BOMBSHELL has been a dream in itself but this season has been a fairy tale. We attended the red ball, we WON cheer alliance, we attended the majors prom and WON MAJORS, we received GRAND CHAMPIONS and a FULL PAID BID to worlds at Athletic Championships, we WON NCA in Dallas and had the highest all girl score, Dreams don’t work unless you do, but they can come true….. this has been a season of dreams….. I mean really I’m an ECE BOMBSHELL, I am a WORLD CHAMPION all of my dreams are coming true……. and I couldn’t be HOPPYier!!!
Thank you Mrs. Bardetti for all of your help working with my idea for my essay and taking the time to work with me to make sure I did as best I could with my journal entry.
Special thank you to my team for making my first season at ECE so amazing, you welcomed me with open arms and embraced my weirdness from day one! I love you all! Shout out to my Captains Kelsey, Gabby, Fayth & Maddy you have no idea how much I look up to you! (PS. I am saving your cards forever)
Thank you to my stunt group. Jenna, Maddy, Tashia, & Tiana I couln’t have had a better season! You taught me so much and I’m so lucky I got to be in this group. I love you all so much!
Thank you to my ECE owners Steve Belanger, Cassie Bienvenue, Linda Bernis, Cheryl Pasinato
and Colleen O’Shea and my coaches Tyler, Matt, Casey, Colleen & Steve. I will forever be grateful to you for giving me a chance and the opportunity to be on M5. Thank you for supporting me all season long especially with getting an injury early in the season you never gave up on me, even when I thought about giving up on myself.
Last but not least – The influence of a great coach can never be erased…….
Coach Christina, Coach Emily, Coach Jackie, Coach Tanisha, Coach Ashleigh, Coach Jade, Coach Rachel, Coach Mariah, Coach John, Coach Bobby, Coach Liz, Coach Kaylen, Coach Heather, Coach Josh, Coach Amanda, Coach Erica, Coach Tyler, Coach Colleen, Coach Matt, Coach Steve & Coach Casey I may not remember everything you said, but I will always remember how you made me feel.
Addison 