Edmonton Eskimos
Cheer Team Blog – Sam
It seems like forever ago that I found out I was a new flyer for the Eskimo Cheer team, and everyone started telling me about how much fun I would have at the 100th Grey Cup. Now it’s been almost two weeks since we came home from Toronto and I still find myself thinking about it non-stop.
Throughout the whole season the veterans on the team tried to explain to me how Grey Cup would be the highlight of the year. I found this hard to imagine because it seemed like every time we were out on the field at a game or doing a photo shoot or talking to fans at various promos, I found new highlights that made me love being an Eskimo cheerleader. But ultimately, the veterans were right!
Sure, the days in Toronto were long and hard, and by the time Sunday came around my muscles were just about ready to give up from doing so many performances, but Grey Cup was an experience I’ll never forget. Everything from the Spirit of Edmonton breakfast to the flash mob to cheering during the first quarter of the game was surreal.
I don’t think it fully occurred to me how vast the support for the cheerleaders is from all the CFL fans until Grey Cup, but the whole weekend I was in awe of how much they appreciated us being there. It made me love representing the City of Edmonton as an Eskimo cheerleader even more and made me realize how sad I was that the season had to come to an end.
All that being said, with uniforms handed in and the season officially over after Grey Cup, I am more motivated than ever to keep training during the off-season. Tryouts may not start until the end of January, but I am counting down the days already in hopes that I will make it on the team again to do a second year with this amazing group of people.
– Sam