So, you probably don't know this, but I actually have another blog here on blogspot. It's a little dark and most of it was written when I was deeply depressed and had no idea how much drama I was allowing into my life. If you're willing to risk the urge to "slit your teenage wrists," feel free to check it out. http://temptationwalking.blogspot.com/ However, this post is really about my NEW other blog. Which I won't link you to, bc it isn't officially up and running yet.
So, my daughter is a competitive cheerleader. Recently a big name company in the cheer world announced that it wanted bloggers for their upcoming blog. I jumped on the chance to use my writing "for the good of cheerleaders everywhere." We switched gyms this year, and let's just say that it's a whole new world at our new one. My daughter decided after two years with the first gym that she was done cheering forever. It broke my heart in a huge way. I practically forced her into the new gym after watching her grieve the loss of her passion and dreams for opening her own gym one day for weeks on end. The new place is a place where athletes thrive in an environment of positivity and patience, fairness and integrity in the gym and outside of it. I truly believe that her new coach saved her in so many ways...
And that is what I blogged about. I got a quick reply that basically said she loved it, she cried reading it, but it wasn't going to be printed as is. Because of the negativity in regards to the previous gym, they were concerned that anyone in the cheer world or our area that knew me would know immediately what gym I was talking about. While I did understand their point, and I did send in an edited version in response, I am still annoyed by this. I sent in the edits because I really feel like this is a message that these young athletes need to hear-no matter how bad it is, keep going, start over, don't give up on your passion or your dreams because of other people's negative impact on them.
However, Can I Just Say, HELLO??? Why are we worried about a gym that spent countless hours using profanity with, threatening and tearing down athletes? Is it my word against theirs? Not necessarily. Our entire upper level team walked out at the end of the season (except one girl) and moved on to other gyms. Most of them had been at our gyms for years. Then poof, the whole group peaced out on them. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to guess what probably went down there. Was my intent in that initial blog to trash them? No. I didn't name them. I wasn't incredibly specific for the purpose of avoiding this very response. I cried my eyes out writing it, reliving every moment of my daughter's heartbreak, remembering how hard it was for her to trust new coaches, replaying the many times her usually tough facade was dissolved into that of a helpless and confused child in my head. I also think that it is ridiculous to assume that the ENTIRE group of "cheer worlders" that know me don't already know what happened there. There are parents and athletes in 15 states that know exactly how it all went down, and what gym it was. Why??? Because, I am also a military wife. At any moment, any of our friends who have children in cheer may get stationed there and I want to make sure that none of them take their kids into that environment. I expect that other moms will warn me if I am gym shopping and a gym has unsafe equipment, a poor coaching staff or an emotionally negative atmosphere. THAT is the relationship that these companies should be worried about. WHAT IF they published it AS IS, and it forced that gym to improve their faults? Wouldn't THAT be amazing?
Here's the good news. I also sent that very blog, unedited, in to nominate our new coach for the Coach of the Year award this past week. She won. When they announced it, they also announced that she won because of my letter. I know that many of our athletes and parents wrote in about her, though. When they specifically said my letter was what clinched it, I felt like they were saying, "We heard you. We will stand against coaches and programs who abuse their position. We will celebrate those who don't." For quite some time now, I have felt that there was no way I could ever show my gratitude to her for all she has done for my daughter. This makes a dent. For that, I am "furiously happy." I'll let you know if they publish it or not...
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