Brooke’s Athlete Card

Brooke is a 12-year-old Level 3 all-star cheerleader for Apex All-Stars — a strong, fearless athlete who tumbles hard and flies without fear. The gap this season has been the parts of cheer that are about the team and the performance, because all-star cheer is scored on the whole squad hitting as one, cleanly, at full energy. Her motions are loose and a beat off her teammates, and even one athlete off the count costs synchronization points for the whole team; she's mentally stuck on a tumbling skill she can sometimes do in practice; and she marks the routine in practice and then shrinks under the competition lights instead of performing full-out. The season's work went straight at those three, and she's becoming an athlete who helps her team hit instead of one whose talent gets lost.

• ▸A strong, fearless athlete — she tumbles hard and flies without hesitation, and that fearlessness can't be coached.
• ▸Powerful and explosive; the raw ability is there.
• ▸Coachable and hard-working; she'll grind the conditioning and the reps.
• ▸Starting to sharpen and sync her motions, which lifts the whole team's score, not just hers.

Brooke is working to turn a strong individual athlete into a competitor who helps the team hit. Specifically: sharp, synchronized motions that are exactly on the count with her teammates, because cheer is judged on the squad moving as one; working patiently through the mental block on her tumbling skill so she can perform it with confidence; and performing full-out — with energy, sharpness, and showmanship — under the competition lights instead of shrinking. The athleticism and the fearlessness are already there; this season is about the sharpness, the confidence, and the performance that turn raw ability into points the whole team shares.