Chapter 10: Texas State Cheerleading Competition

We all piled into the bus along with some parents and we were off. There was a lot of singing and laughing on the bus. Even the parents joined in on the levity. After a five hour trip with a stop for lunch we arrived at the stadium. When we got off the bus we noticed a banner above the stadium entrance which read:

The Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders
Are Proud to Host
The 2012 Texas Cheerleader
Championship Competition

I hollered to our group "Hey girls, looks like we've finally hit the big time. We went in and up to the registration table to get signed in and pick up the schedule. In our division we would be third to perform out of six squads. We then took the bus to our motel to get checked in. Since I was her dad Kim didn't look at all out of place being glued to my side the whole time. We got to our room and unpacked for the two day stay. Since it was late afternoon we took a quick little nap then a shower before heading down for dinner. We ate in the restaurant downstairs and returned to our room to rest and relax. A TV movie while cuddled on the couch and then we were off to sleep for the night. Naturally Kim slept snuggled up to me in bed. I was actually getting used to having her sleep with me and I gave up feeling guilty about it.

The motel had set us up with a private dining room where we could all meet for breakfast. We came down to a buffet style meal and started eating. I made some announcements to the group about our scheduled time and how much free time we had. Our scheduled time was to be at 10 in the morning so right after we ate the bus carried us to the stadium. We filed in and took seats to watch the other squads do their thing. They were good but I felt our girls were better. About nine forty five we went over to the ready room. The girls already had their uniforms on so it was just a little prep and they were ready to go. The announcer called for our squad to take the stage. They proudly stood there and when the music started they launched into one of the best routines I have ever seen. They did tumbling, spins, jumps and a whole lot more. I noticed that even some of the cowboy cheerleaders were impressed. The routine ended with all eight girls doing a split with their arms in the air in a visual 'ta-da'. The crowd went wild with applause cheers and whistles. My girls left the stage with big satisfied mile wide smiles on their faces. I gave each one of them a hug and a kiss on the forehead. Even Kim.

The next groups to perform were pretty good with only one of them rivaling ours. After them we left to go back to the motel since the winners would not be announced until tomorrow morning. That meant we had the afternoon and evening as free time. I made a quick phone call and made some arrangements for right after lunch. After changing clothes in our rooms we all met in our reserved dining room for lunch. After we finished eating I called the group to attention and announced that I had negotiated a group rate for us to enjoy the afternoon at Six Flags. I had the bus parked out front so we all headed out to the bus for the short ride to the amusement park. Eight girls eleven parents two teachers and myself got in for a very reasonable price paid courtesy of the aforementioned trucking company.