Cheer Life LI Special Report: LICCA Finals Recap

With the season coming to an end, Super Bowl weekend means more than football to Long Island cheerleaders. LICCA varsity finals took place on Saturday at Happaugue High School and Sunday at Suffolk County Community College with over 30 teams who qualified this year. The weekend started on Saturday morning with Medium varsity. 

West Islip started their routine off with standing tumbling followed by 4 low to high heel stretches in their partner stunt. They spelt their cheer with 4 unassisted one men reading W-E-S-T, and different color signs made it unique! Smithtown West stunned us all with their no handed one and a quarter ups that they made look as easy as pie. Their energy throughout the routine was great and their cheer was catchy and fun!

The session ended with the cheerlebrities of Long Island, Rocky Point. While a familiar face at LI Championships, we can't seem to take our eyes off them when they take the mat. 5 unassisted full ups hit along with the rest of their flawless routine. I think what most of us would like to know is how they don't get dizzy by spinning non stop!

Before awards, teams come together to put on a patriotic tribute performance which is always fun to watch. Gina Caputo puts together these performances, and they always turn out great. The sportsmanship award was called out first for West Islip. After that followed the top 5 which were 5-West Islip, 4-Bayshore, 3-Macarther, 2-Smithtown West, and the LI champion-Rocky Point. 

The large varsity division was next consisting of only 8 teams who qualified. Although there were only a few teams competing, it was a fantastic competition full of difficulty and well executed routines. These teams did not let anyone else in their division get past them this season and will continue to hold their own when 7  of them attend this weekends prestigious UCA nationals in Disney. The awards came to 5-Bethpage, 4-Freeport, 3-Plainedge, 2-Kellenburg, Long Island champion in large, Mount Sinai. 

Sunday was our most exciting competition of the weekend at SCCC. Small varsity consisted of 14 qualifying teams all around the same level as eachother.  Spectators and judges came into the competition having no clue who would take home that championship title.  North Babylon hit their stretch to stretches in the partner stunt and clean tumbling throughout. Hauppauge had an injury during warm ups, but they still went out there and did a great job. Shoreham had to stop their routine halfway through but the girls recovered from their mishap and finished their routine strong. Smithtown East had a fall in their partner stunts, but their high to highs looked solid! One of the most unique, and fun routines to watch was Massapequa. Where did they come from?! 

The weekend ended with the LICCA all stars, Act member recognition, patriotic tribute and power four. The sportsmanship award went to Kings Park followed by the top 5 teams with 2 ties in the small division. 5-North Babylon, 4-Wantagh and Hauppauge, 3-Clarke and Comsewogue, 2-Massapequa, and the championship went to Smithtown East!

With the LICCA competition season coming to an end, it only means one thing to many of our Long Island teams, NATIONALS! In just a few days, teams will be headed off to warm weather to turn theirs dreams into reality at the most magical place on earth, Disney World. Good luck to all teams competing this weekend and congratulations to all of our Long Island finalists on a great season! 

-Cheer Life Long Island

Follow Them @CheerLifeLI

The True Cheer Mom Profile

#TheCheerMom

Wow so this is quite a little adventure my daughter has put me on! What adventure you might be asking? Well that would be being a Cheer Mom.  

So here I am wondering what is a Cheer Mom? Well, “A cheer mom is the mother of a cheerleader who is very involved and supportive of her child's sport.” Simple enough right? 

Well nothing is that simple!

Do you know how many times I have heard the definitions of what others think of "cheer moms?" Let me give you some examples.

• Cheer Moms are mom's who are living vicariously through their child/children.
• Cheer Moms were a cheerleader in high school or college.
• Cheer Moms always wanted to be a cheerleader and never pursued it so now they are "making" their child/children do cheer.
• Cheer Moms are single minded, overpowering, loud, obnoxious, snotty, ‘clicky’, mean and oh, my favorite…..
• Crazy with a capital C!  

Now that you have heard what everyone else thinks a Cheer Mom is, let me provide you with my definition.

• First, the above statements are NOT ONLY FALSE but not how I feel. 
• Second, a Cheer Mom to me is a parent who is just like any other sports parent. We are the same as your typical "soccer mom", "baseball, football, lacrosse, track.. and so on mom",  a person who helps their child focus, who is supportive, understanding, trusting, and a team player. 
• Yes we are loud. Yes we can be crazy....but more with a lowercase 'c. 

I know what you are thinking, "Some of these sound like my own personalbeliefs!" Wellgues what? Then it seems like you might be a cheer mom too!

Just remember one last thing. No matter what you are, know I'm proud to be "that mom." The mom who will help their child. The mom who will hug and kiss, listen, then tell them to go back in the gym and never give up.The trust your coaches and teammates mom. The mom that also has to trust in the same people her child has too. 

To me being all this, goes far beyond being labeled Cheer Mom.

Tara 

CheerLEADER Advocate, #CheerMom

WELCOME TO THE LAYOUT

You are now entering the FIRST blog of its kind that is run by the cheerleading community, for the cheerleading community. Feel free to click around! 

Every article is written by either a  present Long Island cheerleader (or what we like to call our CLBs) or a guest writer! Get to know our fun and quirky Cheer Leader Bloggers by clicking to their bios. We are focused on spreading the word about the hard work and dedication cheerleaders put into their sport everyday. Help us with our mission! Be sure to Like, Comment, and Share our articles.

We are always open to suggestions! 

Thank you for your support and interest!
Jessica, Editor-In-Chief, CLB

#CheerFaceFriday

With UCA Nationals coming up, it is very important to have the proper #CheerFace when competing on that magical blue mat.

Which face is the "right" competition face? 

1) The Cheer Professional 

2) Hey Cutie 

3) The Miley  

4) OMG

Let us know! Send us a picture of your or your teammates best facial expression during a competition! Tag us and use the hashtag #CheerFaceFriday

Thanks,

Dani

Senior CLB, Cheer Humor  

Adding Color to Your World

When I tell athletes to "eat the rainbow" I assume they understand what I mean.  I am telling them they need to eat a variety of colorful fruits and vegetables because these are the foods that will give them the most vitamins and nutrients.  The other day I was caught off guard when someone told me that a Big Mac has a lot of different colors in it, did that count? 

In fairness to this athlete, there are many "colors" in a Big Mac, however colors like the beige in the bun or the brown in the burger aren't really going to provide the vitamins and nutrients like the rainbow of colors that can be found in the produce aisle.  Browns and beiges usually mean refined carbohydrates (sugars) and saturated animal fat.  Those aren't the nutrients that are going to propel you as an athlete.

Lets take a look at why the colors found in produce can make you perform you best!

Red- Red produce (tomatoes, red bell peppers, strawberries, watermelon and beets) is usually a sign of Vitamin A.  It is also a sign of lycopene which is an important cancer-fighting chemical and helps protect your eye health. 

Orange- Similar to red, orange produce (carrots, pumpkin, sweet potato, cantaloupes), but the also contain larger amounts of Vitamin C.  They also have B6 and B vitamins give you energy, which is important for athletes.

Yellow-  One of the most important nutrients for athletes found in yellow produce (bananas, summer squash, yellow bell peppers) is potassium.  This nutrient is an electrolyte, which you have probably heard about in your sports drinks, and it helps keep your fluids in balance while you sweat during a workout.  That is why bananas are such a great snack to have during a workout because they provide your body with this important electrolyte.  

Green- The darker the green leafy vegetable, (kale, broccoli rabe, spinach, swiss chard) the more nutrients you are getting.  If you are a fan of salad, try eating these greens instead of iceberg or romaine lettuce to really bulk up the nutrients.  Folate and iron are two important things found in these produce picks, especially for young women who tend to be low in both.

Blue- Blueberries are probably the best thing that come to mind for this category and they are certainly a great addition to any eating plan.  They have anti-oxidants galore and are considered a superfood for all of their disease-fighting power packed into each little berry.  They are also in season still so eat them while they're at their best!

Purple- Purple produce is some of my favorite to cook with.  Ingredients like eggplant, red onions, purple potatoes are delicious and add such a fun pop of color to your plate!  They also have anthocyanins which are a powerful chemical that protect blood vessels and preserve healthy skin...who doesn't want better skin?!

White- This is often the forgotten color, but is no less important than any of the other colors.  White produce (cauliflower, potatoes, parsnips) have Vitamin C like orange produce, but they also host vitamin K which is important for wound healing and folate, which is important to female health.

These are only just some of the reasons colorful produce deserves a place on your plate! If you need help fitting more produce into your meals, email me at shelbi@cheer-360.com!

What's On Your iPod?

Music has become more and more of a staple for athletes in today’s society, and rightfully so. Music has the ability to effect our mood, attitude and can positively or negatively impact our performance. The selection of music an athlete chooses to listen to before a big competition can either delay the feelings of fatigue or push us to increase work capacity. Here are a few tips on what kind of music to select to listen to before walking out on the mat this competition season.

MyPlate

What is MyPlate: This is a graphic that aims to help anyone, especially younger children to build a meal that contains the proper amounts of certain foods.  The plate is meant to be a 9” in diameter plate.  This is important because if people are using plates that are too large, the ratio of foods can get skewed.

Components of MyPlate: MyPlate contains 5 different groups (ask the kids to give examples of something you could eat in each group)

Vegetables—The largest group. Make sure you are eating from the rainbow including a lot of colors (don’t forget white!)  The more colors that you eat, the more nutrients you will get.

Fruit- It may not seem like the easiest thing to eat at a meal like dinner, but fruit is naturally sweet and it can be delicious mixed into vegetables.

Whole Grains- Make sure starchy sides you have with dinner like pasta and rice are whole grain varieties.  Try grains you never have like quinoa, bulgur and couscous.

Lean Protein- This one is important because it is usually the one that people make too big.  We think that meat has to be the biggest part of our meal, but that actually is not the case.  Keep your meat serving the size of a deck of cards.

Low-fat dairy- Whether it is a glass of low-fat milk on the side of any meal, some low-fat yogurt with fruit as your after dinner dessert, or a piece of low-fat cheese in your sandwich, dairy gives you calcium which you need for strong bones.