well, it's tryout time.  and it's about to be interesting.  new faces vying for a spot on the squad and old ones hoping to hang on or perhaps move up.  12 will be chosen for football season and an undetermined number for basketball.  sr's only eligible for varsity, freshman only eligible for freshman squads and sophomores only jv, and juniors either.  kat will be a jr.  she cheered varsity football last year as a sophomore and is hoping to repeat again this year and make the move up from jv to varsity for basketball.  she's talented enough too ....but it's cheerleading, so who knows.  this year selection is suppose to be based on points, with the top 12 taking varsity spots provided they're jr & sr's and then fill the jv positions.  in addition there are to be 5 judges evaluating the girls.  certainly a change from last year and +2 judges from years past. 

as a parent i have my bouts of nervousness for my daughter and the outcome of it all.  yet have strangely felt at peace over the course of the last week and into this one.  i am anxious for it to all be over with.  it's been an interesting lesson for both kat & i as the new coach has taken over.  we both love the sport.  we love the precision of it and the trickiness of it all and coming up with new impressive stunts and knocking a cheer out of the park and really engaging the fans!  kat feeds off of all of that as do many of the girls she's cheered with.  however doing what she loves to do this last year became a challenge as she found herself in a position of not being liked by the coach, perhaps because she has been  seen as a threat, and as a result the sport she once loved more than anything has lost some of its appeal. 

i've encouraged her endlessly over the course of the season to stay the course and not to allow a human road bump to slow her down.  to respect the position of coach no matter who occupies it and to always give 100% and .....something not often modeled, BE HONEST!  it's the honesty that becomes tricky when negative feelings are involved.  which brings me back to ...respect the position. 

many lessons are being taught live this week as the study continues.  God knows the outcome and He will have her right where she needs to be.  when ever we 'tryout' for something we take a risk, and what is life with out a bit of risk.  FAITH will allow her to get through not only risk, but heartache and difficult times.  I believe He wants her to shine shine shine in front of those fans, and who knows....perhaps someone will ask a question that will allow her to answer in such a manner that God receives ALL the glory!  that is my hope for kat as she tries out for cheerleader this week.