I am excited to do another year with Valiant trying to go back to Worlds!

He (We) said

Well, for the last couple of years while I have mused that this might be Emelia’s last year of Cheer, knowing full-well what would happen as the season end approached and the finality of it all felt very close. For two straight years we’ve seen her approach this timeline and come away wanting to do just one more year, maybe. Well, once the Worlds qualification was solidified and we knew she would get the experience, I pretty much assumed that no matter how this year went there would be the desire to do another last year. It had already started when she entertained the notion of trying out for Western’s cheer team, but the moment that CheerStrike announced they would be having their Open L6 Non Tumble Team (aka Valiant) back next year, Emelia was all-in again.

So this past week, last Sunday to be exact, Emelia went to the World’s tryouts to confirm her interest in coming back for next year. One thing that was pretty special was they pulled all the returning girls that came back aside and assured them that they were building on the progress from last year and would building the team outwardly from all the girls from last year and needed all of them to confirm they were absolutely coming back, which was very reassuring for Emelia. That confirmation came in the form of an email on Thursday night welcoming Emelia back to Valiant for the upcoming. season. She was so happy!

They start with level-up training this week and like Danielle said last week, it feels like the season just ended, and here we go again. But, we couldn’t be happier for her. There is so much pride and identity that Emelia gets from this. But, we’d be lying if we said we said we don’t also get a lot from it too. The Worlds experience was a blast. We have made friends with the parents and kids too. And we’re just as invested as Emelia and the other families at seeing them be successful. The added bonus is that friends we made camping at Lakeport in Michigan, oddly enough from London as well who did Cheer the first couple of years Emelia did too, are coming back and was selected to be on Valiant too!

So, once again, we are all-in for another season!

Now, for today: Mother’s Day. While it’s bittersweet as we are missing my Mom on our first Mother’s Day without her, there are other Mothers we are also missing today too in our sister-in-law, Linda and of course Danielle’s mother Lorraine. In the wake of all that loss and missing we have Danielle, the rock and organization in household. She gave me the greatest gift I have ever gotten in our daughter Emelia. But, also she is also an inspiration and daily reminder of what grace and unyielding love can look like. She is Emelia’s biggest champion and always up to support us in whatever whim and passion we get excited about—especially all the cycling shit! Happy Mother’s Day to the best partner and even better Mother. We hope you feel like the champion of our family—because you are. ❤️