Now, I am not somebody that like sad stories. Instead of complaining why cheerleading is not growing in Singapore and how unrecognised we all are, let's look at how we as existing cheerleaders can help our sport establish its niche.
1) Stop living in the pastWhat your seniors have done in the past remains as history. What we need to understand now is; what worked for them, might not necessarily work for us
(and vice-versa). Techniques are constantly changing and people across the globe are constantly improving. If you are a team coach, it is your responsibility to keep up with the times. If you are a team player, it is your duty to contribute constructive ideas. Not complain. Complaining (No action, talk only) is not constructive at all.
An example of this point is our classic ''toss to hands'' technique. I have been cheerleading since 2004, and I changed my toss to hands technique at least a dozen times. The reason to this is so that we can progress on to harder, more difficult stunts. (I explained the importance of constantly improving in my pervious post --->
here). While the
''flick back'' method may have sufficient height for some, it definitely will not work when you are going for a
full up. This was taught to me by
Kentucky Head Coach Jomo Thompson during his short stay in Singapore.
Ultimately, you must be receptive to changes. Everybody is resistant to changes but it is those who dare to change that will make the difference.
2) Money Talks
Robert Kiyosaki mentioned in his book ''
Increase your financial IQ'' that -
It is not the love of money that is evil - It is the lack of money that causes evil . I once remembered someone telling me that passion and money should never mix. Refering to my point (1) above, I strongly beg to differ.
Loving cheerleading is a luxury. Making ends meet remains a reality. The ernest boy you see working part time every evening after school at a local supermarket may well be the next legend in our field, but the opportunity costs for commiting to cheer might simply be too much for him to bear. We must find alternatives to offset these opportunity costs so that talents in our field can continue to grow. Setting up a
cheerleading scholarship is one way. Finding sponsors who share your ideals like how StanChart is sponsoring Liverpool will be next.
Remember, money is not evil. Money is just money.
3) The power of marketing No matter how good you are, it will be useless if nobody knows you exist; less to say acknowledge your existence. Nevermind the stereotype that cheerleading is a bimbotic and weak sport. As
KR Steppers would put:
Blame no one. Expect nothing. Do something.I started the idea of a team blog back in 2006 with
Team Spectrum because I found it as a more interactive way to engage with the Netizens unlike the conventional homepages. That being said, having a blog with no updates is as good as not having a blog at all. Nobody is born a blogger. Learn. You will be surprised how powerful search engines such as
google can be.
Being a faithful reader of your own team's blog does not contribute to your team's growth. Stop expecting 'somebody else to blog'. If everybody is waiting for everybody then nothing will be done! The least you can do is help to contribute a post or two to alleviate the burden of your severely overworked ''key members''.
Of course, after blogger will come
facebook. See and be seen. This way people can know that you exist. This is not being narcissistic. There is nothing to be
paiseh about. This is about helping our sport to grow.
4) Don't take up space
Personally, I view a successful team with experienced seniors doing shoulder stands and juniors doing the pyramid tossing. With reference to an entry from blog MDK on the
fish analogy , juniors can never progress if the seniors are taking up all the ''major roles''. The same goes for flyers.
Regine in this aspect is really worth highlighting. She volunteered out of SKM (despite really wanting to finish her last competition) so that new generation Candy can take over. The result? Candy having the opportunity to fly, and is now the new generation top flyer for Wildcards.
5) Take pride in being overtaken.The traditional ''kung fu master theory'' states that the coach will never impart all his skills to his students for the fear of being overtaken one day. This is a very wrong mentality. We will ultimately be killing ourselves in the end when the new generation does not have enough knowledge to pass on. My personal experience taught me that by teaching 100% of everything I have, I will discover an additional 10% in the process.
You are a successful team if you can produce new blood who are able to supersede your pervious routine. You are a successful coach if you can build pipelines for the future. And this is instrumental in making cheerleading a successful sport in Singapore.
Give, and you shall receive.
6) Stop being a keyboard warrior
Hiding behind nicknames and spamming behind
youtube comments and tagboards is nothing to be proud about. Likewise, acting hero and shooting back on condescending remarks is not productive at all. At the end of the day, it makes our sport look bad. Either you meet up to settle your differences in person, or delete the useless remarks that prove nothing but an eyesore.
7) Discard the wrong mentality of winningWhile you might have a personal difference between an individual, leave that person's team out of the picture. His/her team has nothing to do with your problem. You settle your own problem. Getting your entire team to hate his/her team and henceforth making it ''compulsory'' to win National Championships is dumb. Not only that, you effectively elevated that person's status making an individual tantamount to a team. Not a very clever thing to do.
The above 7 points are derived from my personal experience. These are my own suggestions as to how we can help cheerleading expand both ''vertically and horizontally.'' It may or may not work for you. If what I have written doesn't make sense to you, don't do it. On the other hand, don't just make noise and provide no constructive suggestions. And don't just
give suggestions;
act on them. Walk the talk.
What have YOU done for cheerleading to date?
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