December 2015
LET’S HEAR IT FOR THE BOYS! Check out This issue’s featured Male athletes
The Wait is over!
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December 2015
the 2015 Holiday Gift GuidE
December 2015
The Wait is over!
Gifts That Give Back!
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4x smoed World Champs Madi Corsello & Jazmine sanchez
December 2015
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InsideCheer.com
december
30 YOU KNOW WHO IT IS…
In this issue, the spotlight is on Smoed! We hear from Coach Eddie Rios, Smoed four-time World Champs Madi Corsello and Jazmine Sanchez, as well as the boys of Smoed, to learn about the team’s past season, the pressure to perform and what’s ahead for 2016.
42 AWESOMENESSTV’S
CHEERLEADERS: CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
AwesomenessTV’s newest series, Cheerleaders: Champions League, takes viewers on an adventure between two cities. Read all about this docu-series, hosted by Michaeleddie Rivera, where two very different squads battle it out to the 2015 Champions League.
44 LET’S HEAR IT FOR THE BOYS!
The results are in! Check out these standout male athletes!
46 PRACTICING AN ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE
BY KARLYE HAYES
It’s the season full of cheer, and what better way to celebrate than to give back? Be sure to take time out of your day this holiday season to show your appreciation to those around you.
48 TEAM > ME
BY MCKENZIE RUTAN
McKenzie Rutan gives us her 15 tips on how to be a great athlete, and an even better teammate.
ON THE COVERS THE CALIFORNIA ALL STARS SMOED PHOTOGRAPHED BY J. TORI PHOTOGRAPHY
50 LEAVE FEAR IN THE OLD YEAR! BY ALISON ARNOLD, PH.D. AND SARA ROBINSON, M.A.
With 2016 on our heels, it’s time to leave 2015 behind and look ahead to a promising new year. Have you been dealing with challenges or blocks? Take these tips into consideration so you can leave fear in the old year!
68 HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE
Check out these hot holiday gifts that are sure to put a giant smile on the face of the cheerleader in your life!
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE PUBLISHER’S PAGE THE BUZZ LATEST AND GREATEST FASHION FORWARD COSMETICS CORNER MVCs iC’S RANDOM ACTS OF CHEER DAY TEAM IC CRAFT CORNER ROMY’S HOLIDAY STYLE GUIDE JR. CHEER TODAY’S CHEERLEADER SPREADING GOOD CHEER FIT FACTOR PARTING SHOT
14 18 20 22 24 26 58 60 64 66 72 74 76 78 82
Get access to more behind-the-scenes photos of our cover shoot, as well as additional bonus content, available ONLY in the digital version! Search “Inside Cheerleading” in the Apple App Store and purchase your copy today! PHOTO COURTESY AWESOMENESSTV
By Nicole Britt
Fashion FORWARD
Fashionable Gift Giving
That Gives Back
Charitable gifts make a stylish difference. Embrace the holiday spirit by choosing gifts for friends and family that help others! From gifts under $25 to stocking stuffers and fashion finds, here are iC’s favorite fashionable holiday gifts that give back!
Natural Soy Candles help bring safe drinking water to people in developing countries. Water Votivo Candle, $30
Hydrating Cocoa Butter Lotion by Lush donates 100 percent of the price to organizations working within environmental conservation, animal welfare and human rights. New Charity Pot Body Lotion, $6.95 - $25.95
Stylish Gifts Under $25
Help your friends get organized with these pretty clutches from Toms. Each purchase will give one week of meals to Americans that need help. Toms for Target Pouches, starting at $20
Holiday Fashion Finds
Adorbs iPhone case designed by Disney star Olivia Holt. She grew up near St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, an incredible organization that helps kids with cancer survive and thrive. iPhone 5/5S Case, $15
This organization, Feed, has leather handbags, trending accessories and adorable apparel that donates proceeds to hungry children.
Wear your tee, rock your book obsession. For cooler climates, pair with a plaid scarf and faux fur jacket. For each tee sold, one book is donated to a community through Books for Africa. The Great Gatsby: First Edition Tee, $28
December 2015
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InsideCheer.com
YOU KNOW WHO IT IS...
THE SMOED
CAN YOU GIVE US A LITTLE BACKGROUND ON THE CALIFORNIA ALL STARS AND SMOED? The California All Stars was established in 2001. We’re going into our 15th season and we are a huge organization on the West Coast - we have six locations. Smoed is one of our premier teams and one of our eight Worlds teams. Smoed’s first year was 2011 - so we’ve only been around five years, and in those five years we’ve won four World titles - so it’s been a bit of a successful run and we’re excited to get started with the new season.
DURING THE FIRST HALF OF LAST SEASON, SMOED WASN’T PERFORMING AS WELL AS YOU HAD HOPED. HOW DID YOU COME BACK AND FLIP THAT SWITCH IN TIME FOR WORLDS? Last year we had a lot of issues as far as roster changes, which was affecting the kids. We’re living in a world of social media, and on a team like Smoed, every time someone leaves a team or is removed from a team, or any type of roster change happens, it’s kind of amplified out there to the world. It’s hard for kids to isolate themselves from that and just focus on what’s
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going on on the floor. I felt like our biggest issue in the first half of the season was that. Smoed had a lot of strong personalities on the team last year. [We had] many very talented kids, but with that comes different personalities who weren’t meshing early in the season. It wasn’t until the later part of the season that the kids actually started getting along and being on the same page.
We had a horrible run with NCA, we were extremely ready, [the kids] looked great in the gym, and then we get out there and the pressure of being Cali All Stars Smoed hit some of the very talented kids who hadn’t performed with the team at that level before. So After NCA we had a come to Jesus moment where we had to iron out our differences and I came up with a game plan to push forward. We instilled a social media block out for the kids and I think that really helped. They’re on [social media] constantly - they’re constantly posting, they’re constantly reading what’s said about them when they do great, the world loves them, when they don’t [do so great], it multiples times 1,000 and that’s what the kids are feeling.
KIDS COME FROM ALL AROUND THE WORLD TO BE ON SMOED. WHAT DO YOU LOOK FOR WHEN CHOOSING YOUR ATHLETES? When I’m choosing athletes, we get tons of video submissions, and sometimes we choose athletes based on a video, so we kind of have to make a judgement off of what we see in two minutes. We get very nit-picky and we look at fine details, the technique and the overall impression of the actual athlete. Then we look at their age, their weight, their height, and just make sure it’s a good fit for Smoed. Sometimes you get very talented kids, but they’re just not of size to do the skills that’s required of them. We look for five flyers, 10 bases, five backspots, so we just kind of fill those spots as we go along. YOU HAVE A LOT OF NEW ATHLETES THIS YEAR. HOW ARE YOU GETTING THE NEW ATHLETES MENTALLY PREPARED FOR THE NEW SEASON? [This year], we have six returners and 14 new people on Smoed. Fortunately, out of those 14, about seven are from in-house. Our in-house
TUNE IN TO SEASON 4 OF “CHEERLEADERS” AND THE December 2015 InsideCheer.com | FOLLOW
SMOED PHOTOS BY J. TORI PHOTOGRAPHY
KIDS! teams are a part of our California All Stars organization, so they understand the intensity involved in our training and just how to prepare mentally on any of our California All Stars teams - it’s different from any other gym that I’ve been to. I think it really helps to have kids from in-house on the team this season because it’s just an easy transition on to Smoed, versus kids from out of state. We do have six out of state and out of country athletes total. We have kids from international countries who have gotten so used to being the top athlete at their gym, that when they make the transition on to Smoed, it’s what they’ve always wanted, [but] everyone can pretty much throw the same skills they can. ASIDE FROM ALL OF YOUR NEW ATHLETES, WHAT ARE YOU DOING THIS YEAR THAT’S DIFFERENT FROM LAST YEAR TO PREPARE FOR THIS SEASON? You know, every year we turnover about half of our team - half of our team returns, half of our team either ages out or decides to go to another team - but every year we have a 50 percent turnover rate. This year it’s 75 percent,
SMoed coach eddie rios recaps last , season and what s to come in 2016!
but I just have to remind myself that it’s a new group of kids, and what worked last year for that group is not necessarily going to work this year for this group of kids. The summer is always the time to get to know your team, and know how they’re going to work. There are teams that need the stress and need the tough love, other teams just need you to build them up and make them confident. It just depends on the types of kids that you’re working with. We’ve really taken the summer to get to know our team and really bond and just be a team, not only on the floor but off the floor. SMOED CAN POTENTIALLY BE THE FIRST TEAM TO WIN FIVE IN A ROW AT WORLDS. IS THERE PRESSURE THAT COMES WITH THAT? HOW ARE YOU HANDLING THAT IF SO? The pressure is always going to be there, but we don’t make that the forefront and our focus of the season. If we do the things we’re supposed to do and train the way that we’ve always trained, all of that will come. We don’t even say five-peat in our gym or anything crazy like that. That’s definitely not our focus; our
focus right now is our team, being on the same page, going in to the season as a unit, and just having a united front and doing this routine to the best of our ability. Once this routine starts hitting, then we can worry about that, but until then, we’re just going to put our gym, our support system and our families on the forefront and make those our focus, and then everything else will fall in place. IT’S A HUGE HONOR FOR YOUR ATHLETES TO WEAR THE SMOED UNIFORM. DO YOU HAVE ANY ADVICE FOR THEM THIS SEASON AS THEY’RE WALKING AROUND COMPETITIONS REPRESENTING SMOED? Absolutely! Every year, any kid [who] wears a Smoed uniform [is] expected to carry themselves with class and dignity, and I hope they uphold that stature and image, because kids prior to them that have been on the team have worked insanely hard to make Smoed what it is today. It’s an honor wearing that uniform and by the same token, if they make it to that uniform, they earned it, so they should wear that with pride.
CALIFORNIA ALL SMOED THROUGH THE 2015-2016 COMPETITION SEASON! InsideCheer.com December 2015 | STARS
BY MCKENZIE RUTAN
There are no truer words than the quote, “There is no I in team.” As All Star cheerleaders, we have all learned, through good and bad times, that teamwork is the most important aspect in becoming successful. In order to ensure you are being the best teammate and contributing the best version of yourself to your team, there are some easy things you can do.
1
PUT THE TEAM’S BEST INTEREST ABOVE YOURS AT ALL TIMES
Remember, every decision your coach makes is in the best interest of the team. Don’t take any decisions, good or bad, too personal. In the end, you win and lose as a team and in order to win as a team, all decisions and actions must reflect the betterment of the team.
Every action you make reflects your team’s reputation whether you realize it or not. In an age where social media is so popular, be conscious of what you are putting on the Internet and don’t post anything that could lower the respect people have for you and your team. The decisions you make outside of practice are just as important as the ones that you make at practice.
3
YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT
You get out what you put in. We are all young and in shape, but that doesn’t mean we should continuously put junk into our bodies. Everything is fine in moderation, but healthy alternatives are going to better us both in our sport and in real life. The healthier you eat, the easier practice is going to be.
Just because you reach a goal or make your dream team doesn’t mean you should stop working hard; it really means you should work even harder. We have all worked extremely hard to get to where we are, and we should never settle. Hard work should never end, and you should always be working towards another goal to better your team.
5
LEAD BY EXAMPLE
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4
DON’T SETTLE
We have all been on a team with a “leader” who yells but doesn’t practice what they preach. An even better way to be a leader is to lead by example. Not only does this technique allow others to follow in your footsteps, but it also betters you as a person and as an athlete.
Everyone has been at the point in a practice when he or she thinks, “Just this time I don’t have to give it my all.” It is in those moments you will look back on when a competition doesn’t have the outcome you were hoping for. It is in these moments where you are pushed to your limits that you need to remember to give 110 percent. It will pay off.
YOU WILL MISS OUT ON SOCIAL EVENTS… AND IT IS WORTH IT
2
REMEMBER THAT ALL DECISIONS, INSIDE AND OUTSIDE OF THE GYM, AFFECT YOUR TEAM
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ALWAYS GIVE 110 PERCENT
All Star cheerleading is like a full-time job. You can’t pick and choose what practices you go to, and you can’t put cheerleading in the backseat when something better comes along. Joining a team is the biggest form of commitment. Commitment is one of the most important aspects of being a team player, and those “great parties” you miss with your friends that happen every Friday night, will be worth missing when you are celebrating a victory with your team knowing you gave it your all. December 2015
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InsideCheer.com
Not every competition is going to have a fairytale ending. Not every practice is going to be easy. In the darkest times, when you think nothing can go right, keep pushing, for yourself and for your team. If only one person of the 20 or 30 or 36 members of a team gives up, the whole team gives up. It takes every person giving it their all, in triumph and in struggles, to become successful.
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OBSTACLES GIVE YOU CHANCES TO OVERCOME, NOT OPPORTUNITIES TO QUIT
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December 2015
10
PEOPLE LOATHE COCKINESS
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We all know that things are going to hurt, muscles burning and bodies aching, but we also know our bodies’ personal limits, and when our bodies have had enough. With that being said, when being part of a team, it is SO important to know the difference in being hurt or being sore versus being injured. We never want to push through an injury and put our bodies at risk, but on the other hand, it is important, especially during competition season, to work through those little aches and pains.
This is THE most important thing to remember when you participate in a team sport, especially cheerleading. There are going to be decisions, decisions that affect the team and decisions that affect you personally, that you sometimes aren’t going to agree with. When these decisions are made, always put the team’s best interest above your own and it will pay off for everyone in the end. Being a team player is the best thing you can do for your team.
“WHEN YOU LOSE, SAY NOTHING. WHEN YOU WIN, SAY LESS.” – PAUL BROWN
CARDIO WILL HELP YOU GO FULL OUT
Although it isn’t always openly praised, one of the most admirable characteristics of a team and an athlete is humility. There is something to be said about someone who can win and lose with grace, and this ability will make you, a teammate anyone would be lucky to have.
Humility isn’t openly praised, but you can guarantee cockiness is openly criticized. The worst characteristic of a teammate is being a sore loser, or thinking you are better than the team. You are only as strong as your weakest link, and having the “I’m better than you attitude” will do nothing but bring your team down. Remember to stay humble in all situations, if not for yourself, then for your team.
THERE’S A DIFFERENCE IN BEING HURT AND BEING INJURED
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Whether your obstacle is a mental block, an injury or that one skill you can’t quite master, they are all disguised as opportunities to overcome and grow as an athlete. When you face these obstacles, always remember not only do you have your teammates depending on you to persevere, but you have their support and they always have your back. Obstacles you face aren’t letting your team down, but if you allow these obstacles to overcome you then you have let yourself and your team down.
Despite the multiple t-shirts that say, “I hate running,” running will help you in the long run. Although it is not the same type of cardio as cheerleading, being in shape will make the multiple routines at practice that much easier. Any type of cardio will do, and it doesn’t have to be long or strenuous or even every day for that matter. Just by doing a little bit of cardio outside of practice will allow you to be that much better come competition season.
PEOPLE NOTICE HUMILITY
NEVER GIVE UP
IT IS NOT AN INDIVIDUAL SPORT
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This famous quote said by Paul Brown sums up the importance of being humble and how admirable good sportsmanship is. People are going to be sure to notice two things about how you and your team handle results of a competition: they will criticize if you are a sore loser and they will comment if you are arrogant about coming out on top. To be part of a team, you must not only win and lose as a team, but you must do both with grace.
ave
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DEC
12 THE DATE 2015 for iC’s Annual
Random Acts of Cheer Day! W
e’re on a mission to bring joy and happiness to the lives of others! On 12.12.15 we invite you, the INSIDE NATION, to join us for our 2nd Annual RANDOM ACTS OF CHEER DAY! To participate, simply go out and do something good! A basic act of kindness can brighten someone’s day and inspire others to continue the cycle. Share your story on social media using #iCActsOfCheer. We’ll choose our favorites and share them in the February issue of Inside Cheerleading. To kick us off, some of our TEAM iC members have performed their own Random Acts of Cheer. We hope that their stories will motivate you to participate! For more cheerful ideas, visit RandomActsOfKindness.org.
MORGAN LAMBERT
TAL FRANCISCO
LAURENMICHELE HARRELL
Over the summer, I went with my church to volunteer at a local elementary school. We helped clean the inside and outside of the building to get it ready for the new school year. One of my awesome Team iC friends, Tucker, was there too. We had tons of fun while helping make a difference in our community!
For my Random Act of Cheer I went out to the store and bought six pink roses and then stood outside in the parking-lot and handed them out to random people. I got the best responses from the amazing people I met doing this and found out that even though they looked like they were having a good day they were dreading something they had to do. It felt great making people smile and learning that little things can change everything.
TUCKER HENDRIX
HUGH BURROW Every football game, I get tickets for my family and friends. One game, I wasn’t going to use my tickets and there was a boy on the side of the street tumbling. I overheard him saying he was looking for tickets, so I gladly gave him mine!
EMILY MATTEY I went to an animal shelter that was in need of help with the animals and around the facility. I let the dogs out and played with some of the animals that never receive much human interaction.
I left notes on the vending machines at school along with the correct change to buy something! I know that sometimes something as simple as having the change to buy a drink can really turn your day around! I also made a treat basket for our school’s custodians and left it in the lounge for them!
For my Random Act of Cheer I wanted to change it up. I decided to donate to a Childhood Cancer Research organization that one of my teammate’s sister started! This way I can help more than just the one person behind me in the Starbucks line, I can potentially help kids all over the world!
December 2015
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13
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