Cheer Camp Bragging from Smithizzle!

Hello all!

I hope everyone is doing well and all of the girls have now had a chance to get some rest! I slept for over 15 hours, so I know many of them will still be recovering for a few days. Please let them know that rest is the first step to recovering their sore muscles. They did a lot of work the last few days!

I could not be more proud of the girls than I am right now. I can not stop thinking about what a great job they did at camp. I want to take a few minutes to let you all know of their accomplishments.

TSC was the best camp I have ever attended. The girls had FUN which I was very pleased with. Many camps don't emphasize the fun aspect of camp. TSC does. The girls had breaks throughout the day to bond, even with other teams, and to just dance and go crazy! With as much work as they were doing these activities kept them going! We performed our home routine on day 1 and both teams ROCKED! We knew we were not going to get our evaluation until the last day, I think I was more impatient than them, but I was confident they did well. JV placed FIRST and Varsity placed SECOND out of about 10-15 teams in each category! (Don't worry we have video of almost everything- Thanks to Staci!) We even had Meaghan on Skype for the performances, which was way cool!

They started learning a camp dance and a performance cheer which they would be evaluated on the next two days. The girls were assigned a private coach from TSC staff to help make changes to the routines and to add stunts to the cheer. Their evaluations went very well! I have to tell you about the dance evaluation. Both LQ Teams performed almost perfectly and received Game Ready blue ribbons. They were in a group with a JV team from another school. This team was very timid and nervous, and our girls cheered them on. After the first performance the other squad was very upset. Our girls went out of their way to cheer them on to try again, and cheered throughout the performance. They did perform and after LQ and this team played a cheer game together. LQ went out of their way to put a smile on the face of each of the other teams' girls. WITHOUT a prompting from any of our coaches. I have NEVER seen such kindness from any cheer team. I was so proud I almost cried. The group we have this year is truly the sweetest most caring group I could have ever hoped for. You should all be very proud of your daughter and the wonderful young lady she is! This was a wonderful life lesson for these girls, and I hope they can bring that experience back to LQHS and spread the kindness there!

Day 2 was very hard on the girls. There was A LOT of stunting. Our girls took it like champs and fought through to learn each skill. They were open to new techniques and skills. The stunting classes were superb. They really took the time to teach safe technique and the basics so that each stunt would progress from there. Our girls hit each stunt with ease and if they didn't they tried until they got it. They cheered each other on to success, and even cheered on other teams when they struggled. By the end of the day they were sore, and tired, but never gave up. I am so looking forward to getting back into practice with these new skills and really wowing our crowd next year! This team is one talented group of young ladies!

Day 3 is always the hardest. Everyone is tired, and cranky. No one gave up. Everyone stayed positive and encouraged others to keep their spirits high to accomplish their goals. I could see the energy fading, I know they stay up late after I tape them in at night, and they still fought through to continue to learn and progress. We had a Superhero dance party that night where we wore all pink. The girls had a blast dancing with other teams, and our Blackhawk even went to the party in costume! I could not help but laugh as I saw him being chased around the room by girls from all teams. I think he may have been the only mascot there!

The final day of camp was like none other I have ever experienced. By now I am sure you have heard, Bruce and Kris Jenner's daughters were at camp with us. As well as Jamie Foxx's daughter. I had never experienced this. Our girls really understood to let them have a normal camp experience and not harass them with requests for pictures and such. On the final day the Kardashian clan was present to watch the performances. I hate to brag but, Kourtney Kardashian's baby was quite taken by our Blackhawk. Maybe he will end up on the reality show. That is pretty cool I must admit!

Varsity performed both the cheer and the dance, and JV performed the dance. Both teams placed in each category bringing home a trophy! JV also was awarded Most Improved Team, and Varsity was awarded an Outstanding Team award! There are a few individulas I must recognize for their stellar performance at camp as well-

(these were preformed in front of the WHOLE Camp)

There was a jump-off- we had Courtney Carnavale, Ally Jenkins, Lindsey Klein, and Jessica Smith participate. All did AMAZING! Courtney won for all of the JV camp, and Jessica made it to the finals for Varsity.

For All- Stars-
Varsity- Whitney, Kayla, Solveig, Alex, Brooke, Lindsey, Jessica Smith, and Desirae performed a jump, the dance, and the cheer.
Brooke, and Jessica were named over all All Stars winning $ Scholarships. Alex was deemed OVER ALL All Star for 11-12 graders winning the ultimate title in her category! GREAT JOB to ALL these ladies! Way to reresent LQ!

JV- Savannah, Courtney, Ally, Melanie, and Maryfer performed a jump, the dance and the cheer.
Savannah and Courtney won $ Scholarships and were named over all All Stars! Wonderful job TO ALL these ladies! It took a lot of courage to perform in front of such a crowd and to do as well as they did!

I am so proud of the girls for all of their accomplishments, both team and personal. Camp is a lot of hard work and they rose to the challenge and represented LQ in the BEST way possible! I have to recognize the Varsity Captains, Alex, Brooke, and Solveig as well- They encouraged the WHOLE team to bond, through activities each night, and in preparations for camp. Each girl was made to feel a part of the team and I believe much of this was from their planned activities, and gifts. Their experience has given them the know how to be able to make this camp the best it could have been. I am SO PROUD of them. GREAT WORK GIRLS!

A BIG Thanks to Coach Staci, Coach Shantae, Coach O'Grady, and Mrs. Crystal Gentry for helping me all week. I am so blessed to have the expertise I have this year assisting me with the program. Coach Shantae is an amazing addition to the program. The girls really bonded with her this week and I am so lucky to have someone assisting me who truly cares for the girls and the betterment of the program. The work she has done with both teams is AMAZING! Coach Staci is truly respected by the girls and her expertise has allowed the girls to be aspire to the greatness they have already achieved. I could not have survived camp without her! Coach O'Grady was instrumental in helping with each performance and stunt. I am lucky to have her help as she has much more experience in coaching than I. Mrs. Gentry is one of my best friends, and willingly went to camp to help out in being a chaperone. She took it like  a champ! I could not have made it through the week without the encouragement and help from these wonderful women!

Thanks to all the parents who came to watch the performances yesterday and also to Debbie McNicol and Tonya Carnavale for getting my messages out while I was at camp! All of YOU are the backbone to this program. Thank you for your continued support and willingness to encourage your girls to become such wonderful young ladies!

I am glad I can type these words, because I certainly can't speak! I sound like a hoarse Demi More! Please be patient if you need to call me, I fear you may not hear me over the phone! I couldn't help but scream encouragements for each performance and during awards. I am the team's biggest fan, after all!

Thank you for allowing me to care for your girls this last week. I really do feel like they are my daughters as well, and care for them as such. Take care, and I hope everyone has a great 2 week break! I will be working on getting out the football schedule, organizing buses for those games, work week plans, practice schedules for next year, and more ideas to make this team even better!

To The Girls, I have to end with a- LOVE YA!

TAKE CARE!

LQHS Cheer Car Wash on The Desert Sun Website

http://www.mydesert.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Avis=J1&Dato=20110730&Kategori=NEWS01&Lopenr=107300802&Ref=PH&odyssey=mod|galleriespic

LQHS Car wash on The Desert Sun. I am proud of you for your hard work today!

See you bright and early Monday. Have your smiles and spirit ready!

Love Ya!

Camp Update

Tomorrow the girls will be getting a packet of all camp information needed.

It is very important that all it is all read and understood by the parent and the cheerleader. Please have the waiver signed and brought to me on Monday prior to loading the bus.

I put in the last e-mail and blog that shorts are not mandatory for the car wash. I meant, shorts are not optional, they are absolutely MANDATORY. ALL girls must keep shorts on for the entire car wash. We must keep it classy ladies!

I will be handing out cheer shirts at the car wash so be sure to pick them up from me. You will get the size you ordered. I am really excited about the design! Also, you will be getting a drawstring backpack that is pretty awesome. As Ashley said last night, "We got swag." :-)

I am so very proud of these girls and actually looking forward to camp this year. Camp is always a bit difficult for me because it is so much work to get ready for such an important overnight field trip with 44 girls and one Blackhawk. This year I am excited about how this camp will be run with over 60 staff to help the girls and I just know they will come back with so many routines and cheers we will be so ready for a great year of cheer!

I will try to keep the blog and twitter updated at camp. I will buy internet if necessary at the hotel.

cheer twitter- www.twitter.com/lqhscheer

I believe you can see it even if you are not on twitter or following it.

I don't want to post the camp info now because I have my own personal information on their and obviously the girls whereabouts.

See you lovely ladies tomorrow! Be ready to work those camp routines and stunts!

Varsity Captains

Your 2011-2012 Varsity Captains are-
Solveig Danielson
Alex Lambrose
Brooke Reynolds

All three will share the responsibility equally, no one captain will be regarded as having a higher title than any other. This is the first time we will have 3 captains, and I know these three will do great!

They all have the ability to be great leaders and create a positive atmosphere for the program. I am proud to have coached them for the last 3 years and look forward to having one more year with them. This means I have to admit to myself that the Class of 2012 is graduating, and they are no longer freshmen. This will be the most difficult year for me because it will be my first class that I will have coached all 4 years. I could not be more proud of the Seniors, all of them, and know all of them will provide leadership and positive energy for their team and for JV as well.


Alex, Solveig, and Brooke- Congrats on making Captain! I could not ask for more talented, dedicated, and wonderful girls to lead their team this year!! LOVE YA!

Camp Shirts

I really appreciate the hard work the girls have been putting in these last few practices! They are looking great! We will definitely be using these routines next year after all of this hard work!

I have finalized the camp clothes. The 3 shirts will be $30. I have discussed how to handle paying for these with the Booster Treasurer Debbie. The Booster has agreed to use the money that is in each cheerleaders individual account to pay for the shirts. I must make it clear that the money being used was initially deposited in the account for cheer camp in the $500 deposited in may to pay for buses and extras for camp. This money will be used to the bus to and from camp and the shirts. There will be an extra balance required but the Booster agreed to pay for that with general funds. This way I do not need to collect extra from you now. If you have any questions please let me know! The shirts are really cool. I am quite proud of them actually!

I need to remind you of the Car wash next weekend. I will have extra tickets at practice tomorrow. Please pre-sell as many as possible to make this car wash a success!! I also wanted to remind you of our LQHS Cheer carwash dress code. Bathing suits are ok under clothing. Please wear cheer colored cheer shorts only! Navy, or Burgundy are fine. Shorts are NOT OPTIONAL. They may wear school colored shirts, and ofter wear just their bathing suit top at some point since it is hot, but please make sure they are FULL COVERAGE. I always tell the girls to "keep it classy.":-)


I hope to see you all soon! Take care... and stay cool!

GIRLS READ ASAP

Hello amazingly talented and beautiful Cheerleaders!

I just want EVERYONE to know what was said at practice yesterday:

If you are absent, for even 1 day, you need to make up what you missed by calling a teammate and learning the material BEFORE you get to the next practice. If you don't and we see this, the entire team will condition for the 2 hour practice. We don't want to do that, we would rather work on the dance, and I know you don't want that either so please BE PREPARED! It is too hard to reteach everyone what they missed.

NO MORE BOOITY SHORTS! Your CHEER SHORTS need to be loose and semi-baggy. If they look like spandex you will not be allowed to practice, and yoiu need bigger ones before camp.  No more spankies to practice, or those Nike shorts that look like spankies. Cheer shorts only. As in the ones we wear to camp. T-shirts or full coverage tank tops only. No spaghetti straps, and please wear a sports bra. This dress code is mandatory, not optional. If you defy it, be prepared to sit out of practice. This is a part of being on the team and being professional looking at all times. Clothing is not optional on this team ;-)

Anyone who has had perfect attendance each month will be entered into a drawing to win an iTunes gift card. I think this is a way to encourage attendance and reward those who come every practice. Also all of those with perfect attendance each month will get 2 merits for the month.

I am very proud of all of the work you have done and the commitment you have shown so far. Please remember to practice your dance every day, and to jump every day as well. We need to be a dedicated team and show this in every performance and at every game and event. Laziness will not be tolerated. The only way to look as professional and talented as I know you are is to practice and dedicate yourself to the team and to bettering your skills.

I am going to meet with the camp clothing designer soon. You will be getting 3-4 shirts, depending on the deal I get. I would like you to come up with some positive words you think should be our team motto for the year. (examples- dedicated, determined...) I want to incorporate these on your clothes so you remember to stay positive all year long right from the beginning.

Remember to practice and... LOVE YA!!!

Smith's Back!

I am so pleased with our team this year. Everyone is really working hard at practice, despite it being pleasantly warm out. Our teams have their camp dances coming along nicely, thanks to Staci and Meaghan who are really re-working the choreography to make them impressive. We should be able to perform these for net year as well. I would love to have a time to showcase these to parents, provided we have time before camp. I will keep you posted!

A lot of people are absent lately, which is expected since it is Summer Vacation! Please keep me posted well before you plan on missing practice so I know. An unexcused absence is 10 demerits. That means I did not get, or do not have, and e-mail from a parent in my inbox. I write them down on my calendar as they happen.

If you miss practice it is your responsibility to get caught up on the dance and formations. We do not have time at practice to re-teach.

Thank you all for understanding my leaving last week. I learned so much at the conference and was able to meet educators from all over the country! You would be surprised to know that LQ is nationally known as a Model school. Other schools try to replicate what we do to achieve our success!

Personally, I think the cheerleaders are by far the best at LQHS- but I may be a bit biased!

Nevertheless, I am home. I seem to have brought back the humidity with me. It was over 90% humidity in Nashville! I think I will add "y'all" and "yontoo" (you want to) to my everyday language and wear my cowboy boots often. I can't wait to wear them to games just to embarrass the girls ;-)

Take care, drink lots of water, and stay cool!!

Girls- LOVE YA!