Cheerleading

Clara's trying out something new this year - cheerleading! She is cheering on base for the flag football teams. It's very relaxed, and perhaps not a great indication for her as to what cheerleading is typically like, but I thought she might enjoy it. So far she really seems to like it, and Jonathan can do all the cheers right along with her thanks to her fine instruction :) Practice started a couple weeks ago when she was in socer camp (thus the outfit below) and we've had 2 games so far.

At Rest

'I said a D-O-W-N and that's the way you get down!'

Ready for the 1st game

Sassy

Sassy even on the field

Victory

'We're the girls from the USA'

'Goooo Bulldogs!'

Still Sassy

Flashing the cheerleader smile!

'Defense, Hold that line!'

Go Clara!

Game 2: At rest

'We're the girls from the USA'

'Bang, Bang Choo choo train, come on baby do your thing'

Goooo team!

It's actually almost comical to watch the games/cheerleading. The cheerleaders are 'Bulldogs', but they don't cheer for the same team every week. Instead they are given a time slot (5:30pm every Friday) and they cheer for one of the 2 teams playing at that time. The first week we watched the 'Colts' play the 'Chargers' and the whole time the cheerleaders were cheering for the Bulldogs. I don't think a single cheerleader understood the connection between them and the players on the field. Some girls (Clara) may not have even been aware there were boys playing flag football on the field. This week they actually cheered for one of the teams (the 'Eagles') on the field, but little other acknowledgement was made. To make it even more comical, the teams they're cheering for are an older age group, and those boys (and their coaches) are pretty serious about the game being played. The cheerleaders are simply there to 'do their thing!' But Clara seems to be enjoying herself. Another bit of irony, when Clara's cheering with the squad, she one of the least vocal, often looking down at her feet and not smiling unless prompted. However at home, she will get Jonathan to 'introduce her' to do her cheers for anyone on the street who will listen, screaming so loud you can hear her from inside the house, looking up and smiling like the most confident cheerleader you've ever seen. Somehow she just seems to get lost in the pack. Go Figure!