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Sharing the Spirit: for and by cheerleaders, dancers, and coaches

by Sue Ann Kawecki

276 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #01-0533; ISBN 1-55369-131-8; US$25.50, C$32.00, EUR20.80, £14.50

Sharing the Spirit -- for and by cheerleaders, dancers, and coaches is a compilation of 133 stories and poems to motivate and inspire the spirit athlete.

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about the book      about the author      sample excerpt      catalogue info

About the Book Sharing the Spirit -- for and by cheerleaders, dancers, and coaches is the first compilation ever of stories and poems for the spirit athlete. The book is comprised of 276 pages chockfull of motivation and inspiration. All 133 stories and poems have been written by either former or current cheerleaders, dancers, and coaches. The book is broken down into ten chapters for easy reading. The chapters are as follows: Team Believe Spirit Coach Hit It! (for cheerleaders) Just Dance* Teammates Success Let's Hear It for The Boy! (exclusively for male cheerleaders and dancers) Making It Big (written by professional sports teams cheerleaders) If you have aspirations of becoming a cheerleader, dancer, or a coach - you'll find just more reasons to go for it after reading this book! You'll find words of advice from those who have been there and done that and who share your very passion. Many of the bigwigs of the spirit industry have contributed their stories and poems to STS and all the companies of the industry are accounted for! Or if you simply miss those golden days of yore, join us in an adventure into nostalgia!

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About the Author Sharing the Spirit -- for and by cheerleaders, dancers, and coaches is Sue Ann's first book. Sue Ann freelances for many magazines and websites, including American Cheerleader, Dance Spirit, and In Motion. Her many features on the spirit sports can be found on edanz.com, Channelone.com, Cheerhome.com, and Suite 101.com. She also writes for a number of other publications on topics unrelated to dancing and cheering. She is the webmaster of two Spotlight Sites on eteamz.com. Besides being a spirit writer, Sue Ann is the Head Coach and Team Coordinator for the precision dance teams at Maine East High School in Park Ridge, Illinois. During her three years of coaching, her team, the Demon Squad, has been crowned NDA Midwest Champions, UDA Midwest Champions, Halftime Illinois State Champs, and most recently, the Chitown Challenge/UPA Grand Champions. She is a member of, and is on the board of Halftime Illinois, one of the precision dance/drill associations in Illinois. Sue Ann is happily married to her husband Billy and is the proud parent of Jami and Jason. If you have a SPIRIT experience that you would like to share, or would simply like to get in touch with Sue Ann, please contact her at s.kawecki@worldnet.att.net. Be sure to look out for her upcoming website at sharingthespiritonline.com.

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Sample Excerpt

Got Spirit?

"I guess you can say that I am a spirit leader. That's why God made me a cheerleader."

There's an immeasurable feeling inside me that burns just like a flame.
This feeling gets me pumped up before, during and after every game.
When I get this feeling I jump, smile and shout.
There is just no denying it - this feeling is Spirit, without a doubt.
Spirit makes me feel as if I'm on the top--
Once I get the Spirit I truly can't be stopped.
Spirit runs through my body like the blood in my veins.
Without the Spirit, I'm really not the same.
Whether my team wins or loses my Spirit remains high.
Without Spirit my team would never ever get by.
Spirit is as good for me as calcium and juice.
Once I taste the good stuff I simply cut loose.
I guess you can say that I'm a Spirit leader.
That's why God made me a cheerleader.
Cheerleading is that Something that I love to do.
So I say, "I've got the Spirit!
How about you?"

Christi Lee

 

The Coach

"How can you have a beautiful ending without first making beautiful mistakes?"

I had only meant to be a volunteer. A helper. An assistant. I never had intentions of being the coach. After all, I was the mother of twin sons. I had never reared a girl. In fact, I had never spent much time with them. But there I was, the last week of school, handing out squad assignments with the soon-to-be-extinct real cheerleading coach.

I had never experienced anything like it before. Girls squealing. Girls sobbing. Moms yelling. I went home in shock, wondering what I had gotten myself into. A week later, I was informed that the coach had quit, and I was left for the summer with thirty-two adolescent girls.

Over the summer we practiced. Oh, how we practiced. Some nights, I went home feeling shell-shocked. How was I ever going to teach them to maintain straight arms? Were those toe touches ever going to look like something more than jumping jacks? What in the world was I doing with thirty-two 7th and 8th grade girls?

Just before the start of the school year, the squad was asked to help with "Back-to-School" night. It was the first time that season that the cheerleaders were to wear their uniforms. As they paraded in, wearing blue and red hair ribbons and squeaky-clean sneakers, I was overcome with emotion.

Somehow, those gangly arms and legs had grown stiff and strong. The jumps were higher than I had ever seen them. The stunt went off without a hitch. I had done it. No, they had done it. I was so proud of them.

And when the night was over, I cried all the way home.

Judy Paluso

 

I Am A Dancer

Dance is an art that imprints on the soul. It is with you every moment; it expresses itself in everything you do. ~Shirley Maclaine

I am a dancer.
I smell it in my costume:
A mix of velvet, plastic sequins and Aqua Net.
I taste it in my lipstick,
Worn with sweat and anxious bites.
I hear it in the song we've heard a thousand times,
But still pulses through my veins as if it were the first.
I feel it in my stomach,
Churning with nervousness and excitement.
I see it in a thousand faces,
Smiling at every kick and turn of our routine.
I know it when I am sitting in class,
Tapping my feet under the desk...
Or when I am taking a shower,
Performing for my shampoo bottle.
I believe it as I walk onto the floor,
With my chin held high and my heart filled with pride.
I am a dancer.

Katie Dalton

 

The Male Cheerleader

"Any man can hold a girl's hand, but only the elite can hold her feet."

I am a cheerleader, no longer just a fan.
I am a cheerleader but also a man.
With a lot of practice and a little luck
Look at me now with a standing back tuck!
When I talk to the girls they say they would die
For the chance to stunt with just a few guys.
When stunting with my partner, it is me whom she trusts.
When she is falling, catch her I must.
I work very hard, practice night and day
No matter what the others call me, no matter what they say.
I am dedicated to cheerleading with everything I say and I do
As you and your sport, as dedicated as you.
When we talk to other athletes, all we want is respect--
Nothing more, nothing less, this is all that we request.
I am a cheerleader, boy do I make those girls fly!
And when they accidentally elbow me, I do not cry.
I have been punched, pushed and also shoved
When the stunts have fallen, this sport I still love.
I have been broken, have bled, and have even bruised
For the love of cheering; a love I won't lose.
I have found a sport from which I will never depart.
No matter what the gender, cheerleading comes from the heart.

Ross Kolodziej

 

Here Lady

No matter what age you are, or what your circumstances might be, you are special, and you still have something unique to offer. ~Barbara De Angelis

As cheerleaders for the New England Patriots, we make many appearances at local charities, events, and clubs. After leaving a Monday night football event, I had a spot of car trouble. I found a nearby pay phone along the side of the busy Boston street.

I stood at this pay phone searching for change. While seeking out coins, I spied a homeless person across the street. He stood there, speaking to himself, while banging a plastic bottle on his head. Still scrambling for change, I noticed he was slowly walking over to me.

I was so scared. With a dirty face and shabby clothes just hanging off of him, he continued to approach me.

I repeat, I was so scared.

Upon reaching me, he held out a shaking hand, clad in a ripped glove. In it he held one dime and one penny.

"Here lady," he said.

April Fitch

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Catalogue Information

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