by Nick Paganelli
As my son’s second year of cheerleading is quickly coming to an end I can’t help but reflect on how the last 2 years have gone for him and how far he’s grown in this sport. I will be the first to admit I was firmly against him cheerleading when his mother approached me 2 years ago with the idea and tried to think of every excuse in the book to convince her and him otherwise on why he shouldn’t do it, but the main reason was I was scared for him. Scared of the cruel world we live in and how people in his school or around him may have judged him and how he might react to it.
That quickly all changed when I went to the first competition he ever had. I stayed in the back and watched from a distance not letting him or his mom know I was there I just watched him perform so I can see for myself how it would go and well I cried not because my son was cheerleader or was flipping around on a stage with a bunch of girls, but because I was proud and I was happy because he was happy. He smiled the whole time, did the best he could and had the absolute best time ever. I slowly made my way to the front where the team was sitting and surprised him. The moment we shared when he realized I was there will forever be engrained in my memory and hopefully in his.
That right there changed my mind about the whole situation and from then on out I was all in. These last two years have gone by so fast and I can’t wait to see what the future brings for him doing something he loves. I can’t thank his coaches enough for pushing him and hope they continue to push him year after year to become better.
