a post a long time in the making!!!! (and it's actually long)

as most of you know ... i was a cheerleader in highschool. and not just any cheerleader, a State Champion cheerleader at a 5 time state winning school to be exact. see below:





















































































Eastside meant so much to me, and it still does. I might be the only person I know who frequently says "I would love to go back to high school.. even if it was just for a week or two." I literally had the BEST time in high school. I loved every minute of it, and most of every minute was spent doing something related to cheerleading. Despite being state champions, we loved cheering for sports. football and basketball. and we had more school spirit than we knew what to do with. making banners, sponsoring football players, making them "signs," decorating locker rooms, performing at pep rallies, i lived for it all! cathleen and i would even go back to cheerleading competitions throughout our time in college. who am i kidding? we went back to one last october. we love it.

ANYWAY. you get the point, i think. so over the past few years i've been hearing that eastside's cheerleading program has been going down the tube. ever since my former coach, Kelley Robinson and my great friend and fellow cheerleader, Katie Ross Aughtry resigned three years ago from coaching, the program has been on the decline. I've felt so bad for the team. After you work so hard to build and keep traditions, it's really sad to hear about them being totally trashed. and it's not the teams fault really. its probably just been the fact that they havent had a coach who went to eastside, and knows the "standard." after all, Kelley came in and "saved" us after having a bad coaching experience. they hired her because she was a former Eagle and had won the state championship when she went there in 1998 and knew what it took to get there. She brought back "old school eastside" and took us back to where we needed to be.

Needless to say, I was sad to hear about their recent struggles. Cathleen and I went to the State Championship in November and Eastside hadn't even made it. A few weeks later I ran into some of my former teachers at a wedding. I talked to them and they told me more about what's been going on and I felt really bad.. so i drafted this email:

"Dear Mr. Feltz,

My name is Brittney *****. I was a part of the State Champion Cheerleading squad in 2002 and cheered under Coach Kelley Wilson Robinson from 2002 until I graduated in 2004. I was, and still am, very passionate about Eastside, and cheerleading. Kelley instilled in us the values of teamwork, reputation, and prestige.

Since I've graduated I've kept up with both, EHS and Cheerleading. With my younger brother and sister attending from 2004-2008, I've had a lot of inside connections with the squad, and remained close with Kelley and Katie up through their resignation. Recently, it's broken my heart to hear about the struggles the squad has gone through in the past few years.

I know you currently have a coach, and I certainly don't want to step on anyones toes, but I just wanted to let you know that I would love to do anything I can to help; be it, helping out with Varsity, a JV Squad, football only, basketball only, etc. If anything ever comes up, I would love to meet with you and discuss this further. Coach Susan Meadows and Coach Scott Erwin are good friends of mine, if you'd like to speak with them about me.

Also, my best friend, Cathleen *****, who cheered with me as well, would love to help. She is a first grade teacher in Greenville. She cheered at Clemson University, where we were roommates, and we still attend a bunch of local cheer competitions during the fall.

My email is ****and my phone number is ****. I live less than a mile from the school and could come meet with you whenever, if need be. Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Brittney"

i drafted that in december. sent it to my mom for proofreading. she was like "thats good, send it!" but i never did. it was sitting in my draft box for two months. just kind of iffy about it. Then a random night, about 3 weeks ago, Scott Foster (our competition coach) who now owns and operates the VERY VERY successful Rockstar Cheer in greenville... facebook messaged me "call me." which was pretty random. so i called him and he's like "what are you doing now days? eastside needs a new coach. im close with the A.D. over there and he called to ask my opinion and I really think it needs to be someone who went to Eastside.. that Kelley and I coached...who knows what needs to happen. Bring tradition back. I was like, so caught off guard. I think i said "That sounds amazing, but I dont know how to be a coach??" He's like "I'll help you, you have so many resources, they need you, you can help bring them back, come on!" I said, "Ill at least meet with the AD I guess. Scott, this is SO WEIRD bc I wrote this email to him a few months ago but I never sent it!" He was like send it to him now, I'll let him know it's coming! So I did...

I went in for an interview, 2 weeks ago. I met with the new principal, the athletic director, and his assistant, who also happens to have a daughter on the squad. They told me everything. the good the bad and the ugly and we talked for over an hour. i left feeling pretty confident and they said they'd be in touch.

oh i almost forgot, after Scott called me. I immediately called Cathleen, who is my tiny bff and college roommate... did i mention she is awesome... look at the beauty ...


















anyway, i coerced her into being my assistant coach. probably end up being more like co-coaches :) hip hip, hooray!! that is, if i got the job.

so tonight... after a LONG and stressful two week wait.. i got the call. and i got the job.

I'm the new Varsity Cheerleading Coach at Eastside :)

i know it's going to take a LOT of work. blood, sweat, and tears. time. dedication. heart. you name it... but i think this is a fantastic opportunity and i cant wait to get my hands on this team (not literally) but you know, i cant wait to help bring back tradition. try outs are in april. i cant believe I am in charge of picking a team!?! whoop whoop!!

Go Eagles! <3