Cheerleading

The end of January Ella came home announcing that she wanted to try out for the Stamford Cheerleading team ..... my mouth dropped open and confusion was clearly in my eyes.  1) Stamford doesn't have a cheerleading team, 2) Ella hasn't even done a gymnastics or dance or ballet class since she was 4 and 3) I have this stereotypical opinion of cheerleaders that I haven't been able to get rid of despite numerous attempts by friends.

Regardless, Ella went to tryouts the following weekend and came home gushing about how much fun it was and how much she hoped she would make the team.She said that they had to do some simple dance routines and jumping around and that in the end they asked them to do whatever moves they knew how to do - cartwheels, flips, back handsprings, etc.  Ella said she was a little lost in this area but regardless, still loved it.  Needless to say, when the word arrived the following week that she made the team, she was really excited.

Here's what I learned - Stamford was selected by a Singapore committee to represent the USA in the Chingay Parade.  I quickly learned that the Chingay Parade is a celebration at the end of the Chinese New Year celebration and it's an enormous parade of over 11,000 participants including 760 participants representing 15 different countries.  Last year had over 600,000 spectators and was watched by over 35 million viewers in Asia.  It's a huge deal - tickets sell out quickly and the President and Prime Minister both attend!  This year will be especially big because it's also Singapore's 50th anniversary and the theme is "We Love Singapore".

Stamford decided that cheerleaders, football players and a pep squad would be a great way to represent USA and hence the creation of the cheerleading team.  Ella was selected as a base so it's her job to throw up and catch a flyer (the lightest and most agile girls they can find!).  They have been practicing constantly for the last month including 2+ hours a day for the last three days and all day Thursday and Friday.  The end result will certainly be awesome and many pictures will be posted after this weekend.  In the mean time, here are some pictures of Ella and her base team.  Man has she grown up!