JOE’S NOTES
February 18, 2004
“Seizing the Moment”
Friday, 7:30 AM…ALLSTAR GYM
Seventy Five excited kids and their parents show up to board the buses for the much anticipated trip to Dallas and the NCA National All-Star Championships. Everything works like clockwork and we are on our way…15 minutes early!
Friday, 9:15 AM…Atlanta Airport (I can’t remember what they changed the name to!)
Seventy Five kids and our traveling parents arrive…early, to a completely organized check-in with boarding passes ready for all of the kids! We make it through security with a minimum of problems…Leaha Adams, with those suspicious dimples, gets searched…finally meets the rest of her team…and then realizes that she forgot to get her bag from security! We retrieve the bag and off we go to the gate.
Friday, 2:00PM…Gate 24 South Terminal
After boarding had begun, everyone had to deplane so that a mechanical problem could be repaired. After finding yet another problem and much discussion with us, they decide to get another plane. We depart for Dallas… five hours later!
Friday, 3:30 PM central standard time…Dallas/Fort worth Airport
We arrive…nine hours from when we met at the gym…
…This is how it all started. Once we go the hotel, everything was great. It took less than 30 minutes to get the kids in their rooms! We had a wonderful banquet dinner of pasta, salad, bread and dessert. It has become a tradition for me to prepare a special message for this dinner, a theme if you will. This theme is something that we carry with us through the weekend as it is used to motivate and add significance to the level of challenge that we will face.
Last year the talk was “Defining Moments”, as we recounted some of the very important defining moments realized over the past few days. The theme for this Dallas trip was “Seize the Moment”. We talked about how challenges are opportunities and that these “moments” do not come all the time. When we have the opportunity to rise to a challenge and face one of these moments; we must seize it.
Some of the other staff added some very important things about our history, tradition and their love for what the Panthers had done for them. We dedicated the weekend to our 12th grade seniors and we all went off to have a great practice!
For those of you that are not familiar with this competition, it is comprised of some of the best teams from all over the country. In order to compete in the finals the next day, you must first qualify through a preliminary round. They take the top 60% to the finals.
Our first squad was Junior Black. Most of you know the story with the injuries and setbacks. We were very concerned as to whether we would qualify to finals with this team. They competed number 12 of 24 squads. They were very good but did have a couple of problems. Your preliminary score is announced and shown on the matrix board about 20 minutes after you compete. So far, the top score is 8.19. We are all pacing and nervous, waiting for our score and wondering if it was enough to get in. The kids are huddled next to the competition floor, anxiously watching and waiting…then, finally, “we have a score for the ALLSTAR Panthers…our new leader! with a score of 8.63!! The next couple of minutes are sort of a blur, but you can just imagine the eruption of joy, tears, hugging, jumping, excitement…and for Nicole, Jenny and me…relief, as our credibility is restored!
Next was Small Senior Open. They had been hitting this thing all week and were ready. Small Senior competed #2 out of 24 squads and hit a pretty strong routine a couple of small bobbles but what tumbling! We figure that there is no way that that we won’t qualify us as we had calculated that anything over a 9.0 would get us in. We wait and wait…finally, our score comes in…a 9.03! Honestly, I was a little disappointed but it was over 9.0. We are in first for a few squads then the scores begin to creep up…9.05, 9.07, 9.08, 9.15 etc. I am in warm up with Large Senior and keep checking back, 5th place, 8th place, 9th place, they are taking the top 14.
Large Senior takes the floor and everything hits!
It was fun to watch and I pretty much lost my voice at this point. What a performance! We score a 8.32, are in 8th place with 5 squads left. They are taking the top 14 and are mathematically in!! No sweat and no worry. We wind up staying 8th but only about .34 from 4th! Everyone is excited and determined to get in the top 5 tomorrow!
Back to the Small Seniors…
We are now in 10th place. I continue to watch 2 other squads that I figure had out scored us and they do…we are now in 12th place with only 14 advancing. We have only 2 spots left with 4 teams to perform. If 2 of the 4 outscore us, we are out! The first team falls, the second team falls…one more to beat! The score comes up an 8.96 and we are in…finally! We finish in 12th position but with the point value to move into around 6th during finals! We are a little disappointed but ready to move up.
All of the kids had a great day and are very excited. We are all tired and hungry. Many of them wanted to go to the “fun place” that we went to last year. The Trail Dust is a typical Texas steak house with a dance floor and huge sliding board. Nicole DeMaria got the eating arrangements made and off we went.
Saturday, 6:00 PM…the Aristocrat Hotel
On our way to dinner, we stop by the hotel to drop off parents; one of our kids runs off the bus to get sick…then another and another and another…in all five kids, just like that! Some parents take over the sick ones and we take the rest to dinner. As I am sitting in the restaurant, looking around at the kids, I notice about 6 more kids with their heads on the table complaining of not feeling well. Ann Sestrich, a.k.a. “The Saint”, has another lying in her lap.
Ann calls ahead and gets a “sick room” at the hotel and we begin to separate the girls. By around 11:00 PM we have counted 16 kids down, including one coach. At 3:55AM, I get a call that one is on her way to the hospital with her mom. As soon as we think we are at the end of it, we get another one down.
At 7:30 AM our count is 21 sick kids. Large Senior has been hurt the worst as Caitrin Laughey is at the hospital and many more are still pretty sick. To make matters worse, Large Senior has to go over at 9:00 AM. We begin to discuss whether or not we have a team to put on the floor but the kids will have none of that; they are determined to compete! Caitrin calls from the hospital and tells us that she is making them take the IV out of her and that she will be there but she is still too sick and, rightly so, they won’t let her leave. One by one these kids make their way to the bus and off we go. It was a pretty quiet ride.
We spent about an hour and a half moving things around to accommodate the missing and sick kids on Large Senior. Louis does most of the talking as Jamie is getting sick! I felt so bad because the well kids were full of energy but very apprehensive about what was going to happen when they took the floor. The sick ones would lay on the floor and drag themselves to their feet when we needed them…it was pretty sad.
Sunday, 11:15 AM... main arena floor
From Alpharetta Georgia, the ALLSTAR Panthers! The announcement comes and the well ones from Junior Black and Small Senior along with our parents, come to their feet, As I am shouting encouragement at the top of my lungs, I see Alyssa Freeman, who is nervous enough about her opening stunt when she is feeling well, looking pretty sick and pale. The entire coaching staff braces for who knows what is going to happen.
The lights come up and the music starts. The opening goes well but here comes the first stunt sequence. I tried to hold my breath but I was yelling too loud. It goes up and everyone hits! We all go crazy with excitement! The tumbling sequence begins and it all hits! The chant is good but here comes the second stunt sequence. We had to take one out and move people around in this one too. It goes up and everyone hits again! I am jumping up and down and I look over at the coach’s box and see Jamie, Louis and Kristin jumping up and down.
The dance is good but now comes the ending pyramid…
Everyone moves into position and you could see the exhaustion on everyone’s face, especially the sick ones. It had been a rough morning and it really didn’t matter at this point. They had proven that they would not give up. They had proven that, no matter what, they had the heart of a competitor. The last eight count of music begins and the pyramid hits like it always does! Junior Black and Small Senior are going crazy, the parents are going crazy, the coaches are going crazy and I’m going crazy. Some of the kids are hugging each other and the rest are carrying off the sick and injured.
No one could address the team…
We usher the kids into our little meeting area but not one of us could speak to them right a way as we were all in tears! I have gotten misty eyed over the years when something special had happened during a competition, but I had never just wept. Poor Louis! All he could do was hug everyone as he cried his heart out! We were all so proud. When we were finally able to speak, we told them that what they had done was the most courageous performance of any Panther Squad ever; that whenever they faced adversity or had a seemingly insurmountable problem in their life, to remember that day. All of this served to prove that each of them could meet any challenge anytime! And me, I got something that I always wanted…an entire team of Jamie Hollons!
More courage…
Junior Black had been truly inspired by what they had seen, but their younger age and less experience made them really nervous and apprehensive. They had three kids still really sick and one just coming out of it. They were 2nd out of prelims and seriously challenging for a national title. We had to wait until the last minute to see if everyone was even going to be able to compete. As we began to make some changes, stunts weren’t all hitting and the tears began to roll! We had our pep talk and everyone gathered themselves and we were off to warm ups.
The room was nearly empty…
One neat but eerie thing about being one of the leaders is the warm up room. Normally it’s so full and loud but when the top three teams go in, it’s nearly empty. Our warm up was ok. We didn’t push hard because they were still so fragile and we didn’t know if the sick ones would be able to throw their tumbling. We tried just a couple of times and then it was time. We had a really good talk while we were waiting and they seemed to be gaining a little confidence. We were in a great position and very close to walking out of there with that big trophy and jackets!
Through the mist and lights…
As their silhouettes appeared through the fog and lights, you could see them come to life. As the crowd cheered and the music started, it was as if no one was sick and that they had not been through all that they had. We finished the routine with a couple of bobbles, .15 in deductions as it turns out, which was an amazing and courageous performance considering everything. One thing that did not hit in prelims was the “sling shot” stunt at the end. Whitney Fuller is a main base and also one of the most sick. We are very worried because we know that if we don’t hit that, we are toast. We get to the dance, just before the “sling shot” and Cat Lewis another very sick one absolutely lights up the floor! We move to the final stunt, we are all yelling at the top of our lungs…and it hits! No major mistakes but at this level you just have to be perfect. Nicole, Jenny and I all agree, top 5 is good, top 3 is excellent and national champs…well. We finish a proud, excellent, and amazing 3rd in the nation! This is a mighty long way from CheerSport!
And then there was one…
All during the Junior Black warm up and performance, Small Senior is working on changing their routine to take out Brittany Roth who is still in the hospital. You might ask why we just didn’t put someone else in? At NCA as it will be with UCA, you may only compete on one team, no crossovers. I catch up with the squad after junior awards and once again I see pale sick kids lying on the floor and the healthy ones in tears. I have to tell you, I was dipping pretty deep for the motivational stuff! Olivia Ferguson really stresses about her opening stunt…Brittany was one of her bases. We have to put Kim Miller under her without a front spot. Kim was one of the first to get sick the day before and is just beginning to recover. During the process of getting her into Olivia’s stunt, she gets nailed during a cradle and has a whopper of a black eye!
One last time…
As the team takes the arena floor, the lights, music, fog and cheering I think about Rebe, my baby girl. One last time, on this floor, walks the original ALLSTAR Panther. My chin is quivering and there is a lump in my throat thinking about it. I am praying, literally, that we don’t have a “train wreck”! The music starts and we hit all of the standing tumbling! We move into the opening stunts and I am watching Olivia, not feeling very confident about what was going to happen. The stunts go up…so far so good…but then they begin the spin. The stunt faces front again and Olivia realizes that, not only is she still up there, be she knows that she’s solid. Her face lights up like a beacon and I am screaming my head off! All of the blazing tumbling that this squad throws hits! All three double fulls hit, even sick, black-eyed Kim! We have a couple of bobbles later in the routine and wind up dropping one spot from our position in prelims.
Sense of relief…
They came off the floor exhausted; drained both mentally and physically. Once again, we had a squad perform with courage and determination. I think that when the 12th graders on this team think about their last year at NCA, I believe that they will remember their pride in how they faced adversity. How, just two weeks earlier they were not even hitting the routine and then get to Dallas and have to overcome this weird sickness. I looked at all of them, especially Rebe and Megan, who had been a Panther for so long, and the sense of pride and admiration just swelled in me.
Just when I think that I can’t be more proud…
If you have made it all the way though this, I think that you will agree that these kids definitely “seized their moment”! They faced the adversity and the challenge. They made themselves, their parents, their coaches and me very proud. Just when I think that I can’t feel more proud to be a part of this program, they raise the bar of pride!
We could have gone to any gym…
A parent, who has been with me since just about the beginning, told me on the way home that they could have gone to any gym but his daughter has won more than championships in the Panther program! What a great compliment. It so happens that she has a few national titles on her sleeve and achieved them with a squad of people that she loved and respected. In addition to trophies and jackets, we teach honor, sportsmanship, integrity and teamwork and I am proud of that.
The staff…
Sherry, Brian, Jenny, Nicole, Jamie and Laura have been with the Panthers almost since the start and you just will not find finer, more caring and solid people to lead the kids. Jennifer has worked with us only since August, but she has been my daughter for a long time and I will vouch for her! She is the best parts of me. Scott is new and excited to be working with the kids. He is the typical camp counselor, very devout, great role model and will grow into a fine coach. We all appreciate the opportunity that you have given us and you have our commitment to “seize the moment” when it comes to lifting up the kids. We will teach them, love them, respect and encourage them so that when we win our “jacket” you can say that it has been five wonderful years and she won a jacket!
Thank you…
I want to say a special thank you to Nicole DeMaria who has just done an exceptional job as booster president this year and organized a wonderful Dallas trip, with all that happened, she definitely “seized her moment”! To all of the moms that took care of the sick kids and the dads making Gatorade runs and manning the plastic bags, thank you! Every parent on this trip played a very important part! To all of the parents that were not able to go but trusted us with their babies, thank you! I am speaking as if this is the end of the year and I know that this was long but I was just so moved by the experience this weekend I just wanted to share it all with you!
See you in the gym…Go Panthers!
Joe