Cheerleader- Boy for the Cheer

by Daring Diane

  Lee said he was willing to try. Later that afternoon, Sally headed out to the store to get the needed shorts.

  On Sunday, when the kids arrived, Holly and Cat dropped off grocery bags to Sally Corcoran. One contained lots of power drinks and the other was full of fruit. They mentioned how much they appreciated Lee’s help and the snacks they were given yesterday. Sally thought, ‘The kids sure have nice friends.’

  Lee was a little uncomfortable walking out in the shorts. He felt like the shorts were little more than underwear. His mother asked him how that was different for him than for the girls. Lee understood her point.

  Darby noticed the shorts immediately. “Lee, I love your new shorts. I was going to talk to you about getting something different. With the handstands and cartwheels yesterday, it occurred to me that you probably needed better coverage. Now, it’s not a problem.”

  “Thank you, I guess. I feel exposed.” Lee admitted.

  Darby laughed, “Lee, cheerleaders are always exposed. The whole idea is to tease the crowd by suggesting exposure without actually revealing what is underneath. You are only wearing this for practices with the girls. We have to do it in front of a crowd. You have it easy.”

  Sunday afternoon they continued to practice the basics including handstands and correct form for cartwheels. Stretching and basic tumbling exercises filled their afternoon. Everyone seemed to be having a good time and learning.

  The biggest surprise for Lee was how comfortable he felt working out in his new shorts. He also liked the fact that he and the rest of the squad were basically dressed the same. That gave them a consistency that he liked. Lee seemed to be in his element and was spending his evenings planning their training.

  A rigorous summer schedule maintained by Lee and Darby resulted in Lee being very lanky with virtually no fat on his body. His dad was only five foot eight and he had yet to gain a lot of height. Given the family history, Lee had no illusions of ending up tall. He just hoped he might someday be as tall as his father. As a freshman in high school Lee was barely five foot one while Darby was five foot three inches.

  Lee’s low body mass and shorter stature helped him to be able to perform all of the tumbling routines and cheer skills. When running or working out, Darby and Lee typically wore their hair in a mid-height ponytail. But, when they started working on the cheer skills, Darby had quickly folded her hair into a three band braid and then folded the braid up to keep it from dragging on the ground or from getting in the way during routines. By the second week of school, Lee had been trying to find a similar solution and eventually allowed Darby to braid his own hair. As soon as practice was over, he would quickly loosen the braid to avoid anyone giving him trouble. The result was that his hair had more of a curl to it than it had in the past.

  When Lee agreed to help Darby and her friends with cheerleading, he had elicited assurances from Darby and the others that they would do anything necessary to help him with his training for baseball or basketball. Lee knew that if he did not get a growth spurt soon, basketball was not going to be an alternative at the varsity level. His height would not preclude him from being a successful baseball player.

  Chapter 4 – Week Four

  It was on Monday of the fourth week of school that he became the focus of some of the bullies at school. Sally had trained Lee regarding personal grooming and cleanliness. Lee always showered after working out and washed and conditioned his hair. His mother and father told him they had no problem with long hair as long as he took care of it. Lee showered on Monday morning and dressed in jeans, a t-shirt and polo shirt. He packed his gym clothes and the gear he needed for cheer practice. Darby stopped to talk to some friends as they approached the school. As Lee walked into school and headed towards his locker, his head suddenly whipped back as Clyde Posley pulled Lee’s ponytail. Lee dropped a book in his hands and turned too quickly since Clyde still held onto his hair.

  “Princess, I think I found a split end that you missed. Are you going to give the other girls lessons in how to keep their hair so shiny?” Clyde sneered.

  Lee had not experienced a lot of bullying in grade school. He knew everyone and he avoided the people like Clyde. The problem was that Clyde was a senior and a football player. He weighed over 250 pounds and dwarfed Lee.

  Lee tried to quickly assess his situation. He reached up and snatched the end of his ponytail from Clyde’s paw. He had no intention of withering in front of Clyde or the few associates lurking by his sides. In a fight, Lee would be the loser and potentially get hurt. But, he figured the fastest way to diffuse the situation was to catch Clyde off guard and throw him for a loop.

  In a serious voice he looked at Clyde and said in a voice he knew everyone nearby could hear, “Clyde, I appreciate your compliment regarding my hair and I will certainly look for that split end. But, few of the other students take the time to examine other student’s hair looking for split ends. I was simply caught off guard. I had no idea you had a hair fetish. Do you plan to go into hair care as a career? I’m sure some of your friends on the football team would really appreciate your advice on their hair care and whether or not they have split ends. Unluckily, I already have someone who takes care of my hair. I know several local salons are looking for new stylists. I don’t think that grabbing people’s hair is a good way to garner new clients for a stylist. But, good luck in your endeavors in your new career.”

  Clyde was still trying to process all that had been said.

  Lee turned to the starting tackle on the football team, Barry, who was standing next to Clyde, “Barry, I had no idea Clyde was helping all the football players with their hair. Did Clyde help you with your latest hairdo?”

  Barry looked from Lee to Clyde. Clyde looked at Barry. In that split second, Lee made his break, ducking under the people behind him and sprinting away from the guffawing student body laughing and pointing at Barry and Clyde. As Lee bolted towards class, Darby fell in step beside him. She was having trouble running because she was laughing too hard. Several other students had turned and were running with them to class. They ducked into the classroom a few minutes early which surprised the homeroom teacher.

  As the door was thrown open, Clyde yelled, “Corcoran, you’re dead.”

  The teacher did not even pause as she leapt to the door. Clyde stepped back as she appeared in front of him. Grabbing his ear and forcing him to bend over, she said, “Let’s go discuss your plans with the principal Mr. Posley.” And with that she marched him out into the hall calling, “And if any of the rest of you enter my classroom, you will be expelled and if not you will be banned from sports.”

  Barry and several others who had followed Clyde glowered at Lee and the clutch of students who were still laughing about what had happened in the hall. Barry pointed at Lee and shook his fist. Lee looked back over his shoulder and did that ‘Who me?’ gesture.

  Miss Steiling was really impressed with the junior cheerleading squad and their workouts. It was clear that this boy that was helping them out was really making a positive contribution. She was in the lounge when she heard about Clyde’s attack on Lee. Clyde had apparently been sent home and suspended from this weekend’s football game.

  Miss Steiling headed down to see the football coach. Entering his office after knocking, she said, “Nick we need to talk.”

  Nick was a no nonsense football coach and he was not some knuckle dragger that only cared about football. “Sure Sylvia, have a seat.”

  Sylvia Steiling explained what had happened with Clyde and Lee. She then explained that Lee had been helping the freshman cheerleaders and had really been making some very positive contributions. He had in fact been named the team manager for the junior cheerleaders. “Therefore,” she said, “I have a responsibility for this student. And I expect you to tell your players to stay away. If Lee helps the cheerleaders be better, then the players should consider that a positive. I do not want any student to feel threatened, especially one who is helping out.”

  Ni
ck had only moments before been notified that Clyde was out for this weekend’s game. He was not happy with the behavior of his players. “Consider it done. In fact, I’ll tell the players that it is their job to ensure the safety of Lee and all the cheerleaders, Junior or Varsity. If they get out of hand, they will be off the team. Clyde is a hot head. But, he wants to play. He will do as he is told. They all need recommendations from me to go to college, so I can ensure it is done for the entire school year.”

  Sylvia shook his hand, “Thank you Nick. I knew I could count on you.”

  Lee received a note from the office that after school he should immediately head to Miss Steiling’s office for a meeting.

  Darby along with Jerry, Ann and Mark [all friends who were worried about Lee] accompanied Lee to Miss Steiling’s office. Sylvia smiled when she saw the group outside her door. “Kids you can all go to whatever your after school activities are. Lee will be fine. Lee, have a seat.”

  After closing the door, Miss Steiling sat at her desk. “First of all, Clyde was sent home and suspended from the team for this week and the game this weekend. Second, I talked to the football coach and you will have no more problems with the football team. If anyone, and I mean anyone gives you any trouble, you let me know. The football team has taken on the responsibility to protect you and all of the cheerleaders from any harassment.”

  Lee was caught off guard. He wasn’t sure it was good to have the teachers try to exert this control to solve his problems. “Thank you. I guess. I’m sure I could have handled Clyde. Although, I have to admit, I don’t know how at the moment.”

  They shared a subdued laugh.

  “Now, to other things,” Miss Steiling began, “I am very impressed with what you have done with our new squad. We typically let some of the varsity squad teach them the cheers and hope to identify the ones with skills that will make the real squad next year. We don’t have a teacher to lead the junior team and frankly all my time is taken up trying to get the existing squad up to speed. I have taken some time to observe what you are doing. Your leadership skills working with the squad are really impressive. In addition, I actually think you are teaching girls we might have ignored how to be good cheerleaders.”

  Lee was unsure where this was going and was embarrassed by the praise. “Thanks, I guess.”

  She continued, “We typically only let the Junior Cheerleaders cheer at the last few games. But that may change. I want to watch what you do this week. If you can continue to show progress and get them to learn the cheers, I’ll get them into some earlier games which will give them more exposure into what being a real cheerleader is all about. While the title of manager is often thrown around to some person holding a sheet of statistics for the coach, you have really taken this seriously and I am very happy and I want to do anything I can do to help.”

  Lee was getting some confidence. “I know that would be very exciting for the girls. They are working really hard. Yesterday, when we were practicing, they all wanted to know when they might get into some games.”

  Sylvia stared at him, “Did you say you were practicing yesterday?”

  Lee wasn’t sure if that was against the rules. “Is that against the rules?”

  Sylvia realized his concern, “No. I was just astounded that you got them to get together on a day other than a school day for practice.”

  Lee smiled, “Should I mention that we practiced on Saturday also?”

  Sylvia was stunned. In all the years she had coached, she had never been able to get the girls excited enough to want to put in the effort to work on weekends. “How did you convince them to work out on the weekend? How did you even get them to allow you to help them in the first place?”

  “I didn’t convince them to do anything. They begged me to help them. I have been helping Darby because we are neighbors and good friends. Some of the girls heard that we were practicing and a couple showed up last weekend. Then on Saturday after Darby and I got back from our run the entire squad was waiting in the yard. They asked if they could join us. Darby said it was okay and so we let them. Then they asked if we could get together on Sunday. So, we did. I think our moms enjoy having all the kids around. It was sort of an impromptu party.”

  Sylvia was not sure where to start. “How far did you run?”

  “We ran our 6.5 mile circuit. We knew we were going to work out doing some cheers and didn’t want to overdo it.” Lee casually responded.

  “How far do you run to overdo it?”

  “During the summer we ran at least 5 days a week and we tried to do 10 miles at least once. Since school started we are still trying to do the weekends and two mornings a week. Although, I have to admit, Saturday was pretty tiring.”

  “Why was Saturday especially tiring?”

  “Well once we started practicing, the girls didn’t want to stop. We ended up practicing for over three hours. Afterwards, they almost ate my mom out of all the food in the kitchen. Darby’s mom and my mom were running around trying to find more food. It was okay though. On Sunday, several of the girls brought power drinks and some food to help out.”

  Sylvia was still trying to absorb all this. “How long did you work out on Sunday?”

  “I told them we needed to limit it to an hour and a half so we could have some rest before Monday. Besides, I think some of them were still feeling the effects of Saturday.”

  “Lee, I’m very impressed. My girls have never begged me for more practice. And, I have never gotten them to work on the weekends. Can you tell me what you worked on?”

  Lee explained that he had checked a number of references and watched the varsity team. He had developed his own training methodology which he was sure was wrong. But he had nothing else to go by. He told her how he had broken things down and he was teaching them fundamentals as building blocks to more complicated things. He also mentioned the handstand and hand walking training they had spent time on.

  Sylvia didn’t want to interfere. The scary thing was she almost felt like she wanted to learn things from Lee. She offered several books and some videos that would help with fundamentals and training methods. She said she would drop by to observe this week and she wanted to meet with him once or twice a week to see how things developed. Sylvia went out of her way to compliment Lee and express to him how proud she was of his efforts.

  By the end of the meeting, Lee was feeling pretty good about things. Lee changed into his new shorts and practice top and headed out to the field. When he arrived at practice, the girls all wanted to know what happened. He said the varsity coach seemed happy with what they were doing and wanted to get some updates. He also told them that if things looked good they might get to go to more games than originally planned.

  Everyone was excited and wanted to get practicing. The two older girls who had been practicing felt like their jobs had been taken away. While one of them returned to the varsity squad for their full practice, Marcia, a junior, decided to remain and see what was happening. As they began the practice, she simply joined in like the other girls.

  Lee didn’t care who was there and Marcia was integrated into the group pretty quickly. After stretching and a short run to loosen up, practice began. The squad worked on basic tumbling, cartwheels and handstands. Marcia had never been very good at handstands and she had never tried to walk on her hands. In addition, her cartwheels were acceptable but lacked good form. By Tuesday, even Marcia could tell she was learning and getting better.

  Sylvia observed the junior squad and was impressed by the variety of activities they covered during practice. Each day she could see improvement and she could see that Lee was pushing them just a little bit further.

  On Wednesday, Lee carved out time to learn the basic cheers the team had used for years. These cheers and the basic cheer positions were typical to all schools. In the process Lee had devised a method to get each girl to remember the names of all the basic cheer positions.

  Sylvia kidded herself saying these girls might be better than th
e varsity by the end of the year. Then she stopped and wondered if that was possible. The concept made her ask why the varsity team wasn’t more advanced. Was it her or the girls? She planned to try and figure that out. It was scary to think that a freshman in high school could have this much impact in such a short period of time. She knew one thing for sure. Lee was a very special person.

  At their school, freshmen had an additional class designed to ensure that students were learning to study and applying the right focus to their homework. It was sort of a study hall but it committed the freshmen to about 45 minutes of after school study. The Varsity cheerleaders practiced right after school for an hour to an hour and a half. The junior cheerleaders practiced historically for a little over an hour. Varsity cheerleaders helping the junior squad left their practice early but had to stay later.

  Friday at practice, Sylvia heard one of the other girls say to Marcia, “Hey, your cartwheels are looking much better. I guess you’ve been practicing.”

  Marcia smiled knowing that Lee and his group had helped her. Miss Steiling smiled realizing that Lee was having an impact on the Varsity squad.

  On Saturday of the fourth week, Darby and Lee went for their morning run, grabbed some refreshments and soon the squad began to arrive. Lee hardly noticed that Marcia had joined them. The squad had warmed up and worked through basic moves. Their basic moves included a series of basic cheer positions. Lee would call out the positions and the girls would move to that position. Lee would correct form and tried to speed things up to ensure people were not mimicking each other.

  Sally and Erin were sitting on the back porch watching the practice session when there was a knock at the door. Sally answered the door to find a young lady there. “Hello. I’m Sylvia Steiling. I’m the cheerleader coach at the high school. Lee told me about the last couple of weekend sessions and I wanted to observe without intruding. Do you think that would be alright?”