Exhausting Training and Fear of Public Performance
Cheerleading is not only a beautiful, but also a dangerous sport, combining elements of acrobatics, gymnastics and dance. Trainings take place day after day and consist of four hours of continuous, exhausting exercise.
"Our team includes girls of different ages, that's why it's always noisy during the training. Girls do not have enough discipline, so our coach needs to be particularly strict. I am also difficult to deal with, because I have not overcome the fear of performance and am terribly afraid of the public. I can burst into tears and start to panic before the show," Kerchesner revealed.
The woman confessed that during a competition, she never watches other teams' performances.
"I quietly sit in a corner and get ready for my show. I don't want to see the faces of other athletes, otherwise I will also get nervous and lose control of myself. Therefore, I wait, and at the right time I go out and show the best of what I can," the athlete said.
Special Diet
All cheerleaders have to adhere to proper nutrition. Most of them must strictly control their weight.
"It just seems that one cake would do nothing. Girls who must lift me up, feel the slightest change in my weight, notice every extra kilogram on my body, so they can just seriously say: ‘Natasha, stop eating!' Otherwise they won't be able to lift me up," the woman said.
No Payments
Cheerleading is unpaid, so in the breaks between the trainings girls have to find work elsewhere.
"I have a job, because cheerleading does not bring any income — this is a sport for pleasure. When I started to engage in it professionally, I had to look for work with a flexible schedule. So I took up manicuring. I wouldn't be able to work in a job with a standard schedule," she said.
Because of the lack of funding, the young women have to make their inventory and outfits by themselves.
"We sew them ourselves, and they cost us a lot of money. But we have an opportunity to make unique, classy costumes and to think over every detail," Kerchesner said.
"Exotic Sports"
According to Kerchesner, many ordinary people do not take cheerleading seriously and perceive it as some kind of exotic activity.
"But cheerleading is a serious sport — we compete with other teams. Moreover, cheerleading can soon become an Olympic sport, if in 2020 we will be given an accreditation. Then, I think, the attitude to our sport will change," the athlete concluded.
