Cheers x3

December/January 03 ~ 04 CHEER! MICHIGAN Newsletter

What a wonderful time of year this is! December is always my favorite. It’s the time that the staff comes back together for Winter Clinics, Holiday Cheers To You!, our Annual Christmas Brunch and a few spontaneous get-togethers and dinners.

It’s been so much fun in the always-busy C!M Office! In October, we welcomed our longtime friend and director, Coaches Council Coordinator and Coach of the 2003 Class B State Champion Cheerleaders from Marysville, Laura Breidenich into the office to become Program Director at C!M. Laura has the technical know-how and cheer knowledge that we need on a daily basis to keep growing strong. She also attends most of the conferences and competitions, both state and national, that we send our staff to, so her realm of expertise is vast. We’re happy and grateful to have her with us!

I have enjoyed speaking at several conferences and teaching in-services this fall! Wherever I go, I learn so many new concepts and ideas to bring back and filter into C!M. It’s been great fun traveling with our staff and directors, too.

Terri Cassels Cooper, C!M Director

Contributions to this issue of Cheers x3 from:

Allison Rys, Cate/Kate Edge, Melinda Zombirt, Stephanie Spurr,

Andrea Cairns, Amber Sappy, Ben Cooper, Sara Talamonti

By Laura Breidenich

Yes, I’m here…where all the magic happens…the C!M office. The office really does run as ultra-efficiently as you’ve all imagined. There’s still time for hijinks and hilarity as Amber and Melinda are quite entertaining (or is it more like Entertainment Tonight?) They’re TV show experts (very knowledgeable).

Seriously, I’m so happy to be here. I’m excited to have another venue in which to apply my years of cheerleading experience (sideline, before it needed to be called that, then competitive cheer, then back to sideline). Remember when the average coach didn’t need to know Thing One about gymnastics? Funny, when I was 29 I never thought I’d be spotting standing tucks at age 39.

I bring with me the experience of sitting on boards and committees for both MCCA and MHSAA and a true love for this sport in all of its forms. This administrative position with C!M is such a great fit for me. Cheerleading has always been my passion and now it will be my full-time career. This does, however mean that my coaching days at Marysville will come to an end after this winter season. I’ve loved my years there and treasure the relationships it has fostered. I’m sure I’ll drop by to watch a game or choreograph a Round 2 (as they’ve already informed me) but this Cheer! Michigan opportunity was just too great to pass up. I hope I serve you well and help Terri and the staff carry on the traditions of excellence you have come to expect from all of us at C!M.

The next C!M Bride will be Amber Sappy!! She and long-time love, Sam Dworkin will tie the knot next Fall. Congratulations Sappy and Sammy!

What a great day we had at Holiday Cheers To You! 2003 Cheer for Charity. It’s our staff’s favorite day and it was a pleasure to share it with so many of you. We were able to give $10,000 to the Leaders Dogs For The Blind (they had dogs and puppies at the competition all day!) and the National Kidney Foundation of Michigan. Congratulations to the following top teams at Holiday Cheers To You!

Through the years, C!M has led the way on program and camp concepts. In addition, we have resisted some of the things that have been tried by others. Because of the large turnover of coaches Michigan has had in recent years, we’d like to share some facts about the how’s and why’s of our C!M training and philosophies:

By Allison Rys and Stephanie Spurr

Hi y’all ~ It’s Rys and Spurr, Reporting Live from the Cheer Forum Of American in Ashville, North Carolina. Accompanying us are two of the Founding Members of the Cheer Forum, Terri Cassels Cooper, whom you are familiar with and Cathy Buckey, former NC State Coach and Current Owner of Champion Cheer Camps in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Now that we’re all "kin folk" (southern for acquainted) let’s chat about the trip. Not only was the Cheer Forum a great place to see familiar faces like Cheryl Hutchings, Laura Reinas and Amy Denying (MCCA and CCCAM representatives), it was great place to meet new people from all over the U.S. We found out so many neat facts about cheerleading in different states! For instance, bet you didn’t you know that cheerleaders in North Dakota cheer for hockey on ice skates (luckily they save their stunts for the court) We also learned that out of the 25 Founding Members of the Forum, only three were present and two of them, we call "Friends" (Go Terri and Cathy!)

Aside from meeting new people, we sat in on some interesting discussions. Some of the topics discussed were Coaches’ Education and Training, Cheerleading as a Sport, the National Federation Rules, State Associations and Judges Training. After two days of meetings and voting, we felt like we were in Washington D.C at a House Meeting (okay, on a much smaller scale, but you never know ~ a leap for mankind, a dive role for cheerleaders).

Before we concluded our trip we were all invited to dine at the fancy-dancy Biltmore Estate. Preceding dinner was grand tour of the house and grounds. And grand it was, with over 250 rooms and 43 bathrooms. We tried to convince Terri to rent it as a new camp location…C!M Camp at the Biltmore!

Next year’s Forum will be in Des Moines, Iowa and 2005 will be in NEW YORK CITY! So put in your bids in now, Staff!. This is Rys and Spurr signing off…back to Cheers X3

As this issue of Cheers x3 went into print, three of our staff members were at the NCA Nationals in Dallas. A total of 7 other staffers will be attending the UCA Nationals, Americheer Nationals and COA Nationals, all in Florida this Winter. That’s how we stay on the cutting edge of stunts and trends!

Terri was a Guest Speaker for the Wisconsin Cheer and Pom Coaches Conference in Wisconsin Dells, this Fall and a speaker at the MCCA Fall conference in Grand Rapids, as well. More than a dozen of our staff members and directors have accompanied Terri to these conferences and have attended great sessions to gain tips and insight from ~ all so that we can bring the best to C!M camps this summer!

Adding to our experiences, Terri, Allison and Stephanie attended the Cheer Forum of America in Ashville, NC this fall and Layman and Sappy traveled to Sweden (!) to work with three All-Star Teams (read about both in this issue!)

By Amber Sappington (and Andrea Layman Cairns)

In America the most common use of the word "hey" Is to grab your attention. In cheerleading, a sport that requires the crowds attention, "hey" has become a staple in material. "Hey let’s go" is a popular one, with it’s sister phrase "hey, here we go" and then there’s my personal favorite "hey let’s play!" Until Andrea and I were asked to choreograph material for three All-Star teams in Sweden, we took the word "hey" very lightly. Little did I know we would be saying "Hey Hey" to Sweden and embarking on a great, new cheer journey.

For those of you wondering how this all went down and to make a long story short we got an email at the C!M Office from a women named Sofia Blom who was looking for cheer choreographers to go to Sweden and help her teams. She really liked our website and wanted to know more about us. I immediately responded that Andrea and I were interested in helping and after a month of emailing back and forth she let us know that out of eight companies she considered, she choose us. We were totally fired-up. "A free trip to Sweden? Now you’re talking my language!"

In late November while other Americans were preparing to have their Turkey Feast Andrea and I were preparing cheers and formations for an area and country we knew nothing about. I take that back, Andrea had done some research on Boras, Sweden and came up with the fact that it’s a very football orientated town. (I had to inform her that meant soccer. A foot-to-ball sport.) We also knew that we were staying in a hotel and that the majority of our trip would be spent practicing with the teams. We would try to do our best to fit in shopping and maybe a little Swedish nightlife.

We were greeted at the airport by three new friends. Sofia the manger of the cheer programs and Karin and Kristina, coaches for the Senior All-Star team, both 24 and totally cool. They took us to our super nice hotel where our welcome was a "Hey, Hey" and I’m thinking, ‘Great they all speak English’, I gave her a long "Heeey" back to say "hi" and to show her we (meaning Americans) only use one "hey" but English is hard, so it’s cool. It then dawned on me after replaying all the greetings I’ve gotten thus far, that "Hey, Hey" is their hello, not our "Heeey!" We immediately revamped the cheer omitting all "hey" phrases ("hi, let’s play" just doesn’t have the same ring).

So Andrea and I met the girls and learned all the final details about the material. I’m sure you have the same questions we did, so we’ll just get the answers out of the way:

Yes, the girls spoke English (no translator needed)

Yes, the girls cheered in English

No, they don’t cheer for their school (they cheer for their community)

No, they don’t have mascots

Yes, they compete

Our job was to give them material and help them get ready for the country competition where the First Place Team would advance and compete in the World Championship, in Manchester, England.

We had a fabulous time working with all the teams, ranging in age from 11-18. Andrea and I made some keen observations about Swedish cheerleaders vs. American cheerleaders;

1. They were very attentive. Some days we worked 12 hours and they were still on our every word.
2. To our surprise, they were good stunters. (It did help that their flyers weighed maybe, 70 pounds)
3. There was an almost eerie silence while coaching them. It was so quiet, the girls never had chit chat (a coaches dream, right?)
4. They take a lot of water breaks, but no one actually drinks water they eat fruit, lots of fruit!

After leaving Sweden, feeling really fulfilled with what we did Andrea and I also realized that we had some total misconceptions about foreign countries. In the six days we were in Sweden, we never met a girl named Inga; everyone was nice to Americans and the U.S. isn’t the only or the best when it comes to cheerleading. It may have originated here but our friends overseas are taking it by storm. So don’t be surprised the next time you’re at camp and you get a "hey, hey" thrown your way.

By Terri Cassels Coopers: From the Welcome Session at Coaches Camp

If you want to see your face in the water of a lake, it needs to be completely still for you to see your reflection clearly. This concept speaks volumes for how we view ourselves and our world. We often find ripples in so many parts of our lives, that we can’t find the balance or perspective to see ourselves clearly.

There are lots of reasons for ripples to occur. For coaches, it is imperative to understand why they appear and how we can diffuse them. Because we work with young people every day, we must understand and accept that our behavior will be mirrored. We must be at peace with the fact that each young person we coach will take a piece of us with them when they go. We want them to take the best piece.

Ripples result from four major categories of our lives: One is the frustration we feel between how we want things and how things really are. Another is our frustration at others ~ especially when they don’t have proper perspective or won’t come ‘on board’ with us. A third cause of ripples occurs when we are angry at ourselves (often disguised by transferring our anger onto others). Lastly, ripples can come from reacting to a situation before we’ve had time to think it through. In general, anything that causes us anxiety or discomfort indicates that there is a ripple to understand and diffuse.

With every challenge that is thrown our way, we have choices. All great leaders share the ability to control and master their own temperament. This is key to keeping ripples out of our everyday life. It is also imperative to ‘stretch yourself’, meaning being open to change and growth, as well as taking responsibility for the things that have happened within your life. For example, if you’ve been fired from 5 jobs (coaching, included), it’s time to look inward to find the problem, rather than blame others.

To understand challenges, realize that finding perspective is not natural. Our ‘infant selves’ will always fight against accepting other people’s ideas, because in the rawest form, we all want things our own way. As a leader and mentor, we need to gain perspective and see all the ways of looking at situations.

The goal is to accept and like yourself enough to enjoy your own reflection. Even more important is gaining the inner strength that will make others want to join in your ‘calm’. To put it all into practice:

There is a rule of life I try to live by. That is, whatever I want to be good at ~ to be the best at ~ I put myself in the place of the people I influence, work with or live with. When I coached, I tried to imagine what kind of person I needed and wanted to coach me when I was a teenager and then I set out to be that person. At this stage of my life, with a three year old, I look at my precious son everyday and think of what kind of Mom I needed when I was his age and I am committed to being that person. This concept will work for you in every facet of your life and is the most honest, powerful tool you can employ.

Remember ~ ripples happen upon everyone. The real difference is 1) If you’re manufacturing your ripples to hold onto your own negative feelings or 2) How you react when ripples are thrown your way.

By Ben Cooper, Age 3 and help from one or two of his Ghost Writer ‘C!M Aunts’

Hey guys it’s your friend Benny "Coop" here. We haven’t talked since the last Cheers x3, so I thought I’d keep you in the loop…or the hula-hoop. We’ll I’m 3, a little older, a little wiser. I’ve said goodbye to Toy Story and I’ve moved on to the Lion King, (Scar’s my favorite character, he’s not angry and mean, just really misunderstood. As a typical three year old, I can identify with him.) Like, take my parents for example, I’ve started to really see life through my own box of Crayola’s ~ not just through their old 64-pack. My Mom says "Calm the Ripple" I say, "Make Some Waves". I mean ever since I was two I’ve been creating my own personal tidal wave that just keeps getting bigger and bigger and you don’t see me complaining.

My Mom has set some goals for you peeps (that’s people, in Amber Sappy lingo). So I thought I’d make my own list for you to follow. I mean, when it comes to leaders my Mom is okay, but she’s not as much fun as your Benny!!

• "Get Dirty!" My Mom’s always saying "stay clean". What‘s the point if you’re just going to get dirty again? And by the way don’t tell TCC that I told you this, but she calls that stuff in your nose, "nose dirt." I mean who is she kidding!

• "Jump On Beds," That’s what they’re for. The bigger and softer the better, you know more playing surface.

• "Make Loud Animal Noises." The Lion is my favorite, RRRROAAR!

• "Get CRAZY Whenever, Wherever!" The best time is when your Mom has friends over; right after one says "How do you do it Terri, the perfect job, career and child!" As soon as you hear "perfect child" that’s your cue to throw a fit about something, anything at all. Just make sure all attention is on you and your favorite word is "NO!" Now, say it with me ~ "NNNOOOOOOOO!" Good, you’re a natural!

• "Ignore, Ignore, Ignore!" In the world of us 3 year olds, the word "ignore" is also a simile for "selective hearing." This means if you don’t like what you’re hearing, pretend you don’t hear it! If you have any questions about this concept, I’m sure your dads or husbands can help you.

Now Friends, my last words of wisdom and waves are:

See guys, like I said, Make Some Waves, stir things up. What’s the worst that could happen? You’re only young once! So remember these words by yours truly, "Life’s like an egg, so get scrambling!!