2013 : Walking Into a Whole New World at Cheer Athletics

The year was 2013.

I had just competed my final competition with Spirit of Texas. Shortly after, a few friends invited me to an open gym at another gym — Cheer Athletics Plano. I remember standing in my room trying to find a Spirit of Texas practice shirt to wear. I wanted people to know I was a cheerleader and that I came from a great gym.

The drive from Arlington to Plano felt like forever. Growing up near DFW airport, cheer gyms had always been close. Spirit of Texas Arlington was about 15–20 minutes away, and when the Coppell location opened, it was only 10–15 minutes in the opposite direction. Driving far for cheer just wasn’t a thing for me before Plano.

Then I walked through the doors.

Wow.

Six full spring floors. Two tumble tracks running the length of the longest wall. A massive rod floor stretching wide across the gym. The center floor had stage lighting, speakers, and a black spring floor border. I was in complete awe. I had never seen cheerleading on that scale before.

That’s not to say Spirit of Texas wasn’t ahead of its time. Coppell was incredible. But Arlington in the early 2000s was… different. I remember the loading dock outside filling with water when it rained, turning into a breeding ground for mosquitoes. No air conditioning. Garage doors wide open during Texas summers. Fans blasting hot air through the building. Tumbling classes happening while 106.1 Kiss FM played on the radio in the background.

That gym was my childhood.

I spent seven seasons there. I grew up inside those walls — from an eight-year-old boy cheering with high school seniors, From Senior Open Coed 4 to Senior Coed Open Level 5 to Junior 5. I learned who I was there. I had fun. I flipped, threw stunts, got tossed over pyramids, and flew through basket tosses without thinking twice.

I never realized how competitive cheerleading truly was. To me, it was just joy. Movement. Belonging.

I often felt like everyone’s annoying little brother. Not intentionally — I just wanted to fit in with the girls around me. From a young age, I learned so much about girls, how they think, how they support each other. I’m also blessed with four younger sisters — three who cheered, and one who danced and is now incredibly artistic.

Back to Cheer Athletics.

Walking into what was, at the time, the largest cheer gym in the world was surreal. I went straight to the corner floor and started throwing skills I felt comfortable with. Standing fulls were my most consistent skill. Round-off back handspring fulls, whip-through fulls — those were my go-to passes.

But as I looked around, something hit me.

Why didn’t I have a double?

I had been taking tumbling classes every week. I had every skill through full. Isn’t the next step a double? Why hadn’t I been taught? Was I missing something?

I left open gym baffled.

That night, I asked my mom if I could take a tumbling lesson at Cheer Athletics Plano. I’m not sure how quickly it was booked, but it happened fast.

My first private lesson was on the rod floor. That very day, I threw my first double. It wasn’t perfect, but I made it all the way around and landed it. I went home knowing one thing for sure — I wanted to switch gyms.

I tried out for Cheer Athletics in the summer of 2013, at the end of my freshman year of high school. I was nervous, but excited for the change. I wasn’t fully confident in my double yet, but I wasn’t too worried. My entire cheer career, I had been fortunate with team placements.

What I wasn’t prepared for was the number of boys.

There were over 100 boys at tryouts.

I remember thinking, wow… is cheer really like this? All these boys want to cheer?

For the previous three or four years, I had hidden this part of myself. I was ashamed at times. I had been bullied, called names, and made to feel like being a boy in cheer was something to be embarrassed about. Seeing that many boys changed something in me.

At tryouts, I landed my round-off back handspring double. I did a standing back handspring to full, a standing full, and another round-off handspring double.

Then came the wait.

Placement calls felt like they took forever. When my phone finally rang, I ran to grab my mom so she could listen with me. My hands were shaking as I answered.

“Hello?”

They asked if I was Dylan and if I was ready to hear my team placement.

“Yes,” I said, nervous and bracing myself.

“You made Cheer Athletics Cheetahs for the 2013–2014 season. Are you excited?”

I didn’t even know what that meant, but yes — of course I was excited.

“That’s a Large Senior Level 5 Coed team.”

Eighteen boys. Eighteen girls.

I had never been on a team with more than three boys before. This was an entirely new world. Shortly after, a GroupMe link was sent out so we could join the team chat and start summer workouts.

I couldn’t wait for my first practice.

That first year at Cheer Athletics Plano became the beginning of so many opportunities, connections, and life-changing moments for me. It was a defining chapter — not just in my cheer career, but in who I would become.

I’ll continue sharing more of my cheer journey and what life has looked like since stepping away from competing. Cheerleading shaped me in ways I’m still discovering, and this next chapter of reflecting and sharing has been just as meaningful.