I Joined The #1 Cheer Team In America

Cheerleading is the pinnacle of sports and performance growing up. I always wanted to get into

cheer

leading, but because of the physical risk I never allowed myself to try until now, so this week I'm going out on the mat to fulfill one of my lifelong goals. I dream of auditioning for one of the best

cheer

leading

team

s in the US because if I don't, I'll always be wondering what happens if I do. Here's how this episode will work. In 10 days, I am going to try out for the Royal University of Kentucky Cheerleading Team and to make the

team

I will have to go through three rounds of tryouts if I make a mistake if they cut me the video ends and so does my childhood dream to be a cheerleader, so because I'm a Leo, I've recruited two world silver medalists to give me my best shot.

Thank you both very much for being here with me at the last minute because in 10 days I will be taking a test for the University of Kentucky. The University of Kentucky is what I would consider a powerhouse for decades. UK has been a cheerleading dynasty, winning 24 national championships in 35 years. Michelle should be very nervous about performing alongside some of the best cheerleaders in the country. I feel like I know where you are, but let's see. where you're so touching your toe you said you knew that word yeah okay you wanna show me what my version is yeah you're interested okay five six seven eight five six seven eight okay That was very good, I was actually very impressed.

I have no idea what it looks like everything we do is clean, well, clean and facials, as long as you're not like that, even when you're dying inside, you don't prove that cheerleading is three sports all in one. We have the cartwheels that are like gymnastics one three, did you die? we have dancing we also have weight lifting what is this? This is how we teach our fliers to maintain their positions without killing the child below them. These boys and girls are launching humans. above their heads while you keep them safe and you have to do it all with a smile on your face, we have to get you out of those old shoes and put on some cheerleading shoes, so you can get those little notches that are so useful, one two, OK? balls of a second, this all happens in milliseconds and you don't really have time to think about it, that's why we do reps over and over again so that way it becomes more like riding a bike, sorry, sorry, I thought oh she was a heavyweight she said no we are elite now we are in the league and in case you are curious the exact program I used to improve my flexibility during this challenge is available on my mkfit fitness app the link is in the description.

If you're interested, for next week's tests I have to learn the University of Kentucky fight song, show me, let's watch it, there's a fantasy, oh I can pray, oh wait, no, no, no, that's the one start, to be able to fight. the song is extremely important this is something they are doing at every game at every school event this is a big dance for that school hit one two three four five six seven down eight kick one two cheerleaders it's not just the skills it's being able to command to a stadium that looks at you and just wants to cheer up go catch go catch go cats we're going to try to run it with the suns okay Michelle will try an elite this usually includes some type of spinning scope. reach reach no where did our arms go reach yes okay reach pull yes okay okay okay we're getting close that's good most coolers don't test the main fence until they've had at least seven years of cooling in his credit.

I'm leaving for Kentucky in six hours and we haven't perfected everything oh my gosh too bad my back here you go there you go ah if you're thinking too much about the skills just do it the hardest part of this challenge will be that Michelle out of her head will just go out and have a good time and perform and do what she's been taught for 10 days, we're going to be very blue, even if I hit it just once in practice, that's great, but I have to be able to do it. Constantly under pressure in front of a crowd while people judge me.

If I don't pass the first round, I can't do anything else and the video ends. If you know cheerleading, you know that Kentucky, Kentucky is the end all be all. of college cheerleaders and first place national champions from the University of Kentucky Wildlife. I will be working with Michelle over the course of these trial weekends. Michelle is new to the skills these athletes have been developing basically since they could walk. Michelle is really going to I have to give her everything or she could very well get cut Kailyn let's go upstairs kaylin number six good luck olivia perfect you're number seven come on hi michelle how are you excited michelle is number 24. there you go good luck?

Coach Ryan's standards are what's called the gold standard. If you are afraid of failure, you don't deserve success. There's my coach Ryan Martin O'Connor, a five-time state champion, won a national championship at Alabama as a cheerleader and a three-time gold medalist. This Kentucky program is in great hands with Coach Ryan. I'm not going to stand here and tell you that everything will be fun and easy, even this weekend won't be fun and easy, but again it will be. a part of something significant that you have to go through and that she doesn't take no for an answer you're not going to be a mediocre athlete you're going to be the best of the best I don't have friends no I have to go make friends.

This is like high school lunch where you have to pick a table, except everyone is cheerleaders and really cool. I'm going to make a friend now. I'm challenging myself to make a friend. Hey, can I stretch with you? guys cheerleading is all about trust in the last 10 days with Michelle we have built that bond and that trust and now she has to go and create this same bond and that same trust that someone she doesn't know Maddie Daniel was saying you cheers together in navarre yeah that's great together i only went to navarre to help me prepare for kentucky the world is still buzzing months after netflix released the docuseries cheer it's a series that features the 14 time navarro national champion team junior college cheerleading for me was a little different, they didn't really know me as daniel, they knew me as gabby's style partner, i was the guy who threw gaby cheers, a show that really showed off the athleticism of cheerleading, it was They require hours and hours of dedication, blood sweat. and tears, multiple injuries and it really showed how difficult it is to be a cheerleader.

People just think of high school cheerleading, like the sideline cheerleaders that are like the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders, like it's a prop for football games and stuff, but it's a lot happier. To make the team, I will have to go through three days of tryouts demonstrating different skills each day, the first round doing tumbling and a fight song, two stretching stunts, and the third round performing an elite stunt in front of a live crowd. and, to be perfectly clear, I do. I have no real aspirations to become a cheerleader, but I wanted to take this opportunity to experience a sport that I have always been deeply drawn to and to make sure I don't waste this opportunity, I have to make sure I don't get it. cut, we'll start with the girls first today and we'll go four by four standing, spinning, running, spinning, fight song, let's do this, let's start, wow, that looks so good, hey, he's been cheering since he was eight years, okay, if we can.

Put girls one, two, three and four on the mat. Girls one, two, three and four, here we go, number one, standing around, spinning around. Go, take it until you make it, land and hit the crowd instantly. You guys can go ahead and take the mat with your fight song buddies, I need to see that you can do the fight song at appearances, you know, at alumni events, at games. It's great that you can do all these other skills, but you have to be able to be an ambassador for our university, so you're I'm going to do that fight song a lot more than you're going to do that for the spring, double, okay, thanks guys , I can't imagine posting that on anything in front of anyone.

Good God. 17, come here please, I'm very disappointed. your fight song the fight song should have been incredibly perfect the gimmick should be perfect so what I want to see from you right now is for you to get your ass over there and work on that fight song and come ask me to show it to me again, can I have another chance? You beg me to give me another chance. Find your partner and go fix it. Thank you, being the head coach of the University of Kentucky is a lot of pressure because we are 24-time national champions and because we were not successful in this.

Last year it was hard to read the things people say about you without knowing you, we just have to win and then we'll all shut up. My husband wants to hit a lot of people sometimes and my mom too, it's okay. I'm about to continue. I'm going with you, are you all ready? I'm excited. Big smiles. Great energy. Yes, we have it good. 21 22 23 24. Come on, wildcats. Yes. 23. You have a good reputation. 24. I wish everyone would smile. like she did, that was amazing, now it's time for the fights, you're not done yet, you're not done, well you guys can go ahead and grab the map or the fight song, come on UK, come on big blue, Well, she's amazing, what I'm talking about. about here we go fight song okay let's do the spread we got it let's be big blue hey you still got this smiling and waving that was so much fun I know you killed the fight song too as fun as double check after I said, she? just like kill, you're so good out there and the extensions were money you like, jumped off the floor like I wasn't even expecting it, like you, you just like it, boom from the floor, it's time to play, buddy, that It's exciting, not nervous, yes, everyone is applauding. because the thing about cheerleaders is you cheer, they'll cheer, you're quiet, they'll shut up, so you went out there as soon as you started yelling, they were like, "Okay, that's good, I'll be honest." I was disappointed with today's fight song.

It was on the website. I sent a test email. You knew you were going to have to make this fight song if you didn't. You showed me that we weren't worth it and why I would do it. I want you on my college team if you can't act like a college age adult it's not just the skills you do in front of me but also the life skills I need to see for you to be a part of this team when we get back coach strobis our strength coach will be here and we're doing our fitness assessment and we'll do a cut after the fitness assessment you're going to step on your arms, start doing a big jump landing on a spent leg 24.5 24 .9 good ready to work when you're 16.8 fitness is important it's a big part of what we do we are athletes 44 45 more reps I really wanted to see the effort that's what I was looking for is who is going to take this seriously who is going to take each part of the tests seriously, those are the people I want.

My vertical jump was so bad. Well, I mean, I think this gives us some black and white answers about things you were already questioning. That's what I think it is yeah. We're going to post a cut tonight if we don't invite you back, tomorrow again, we just appreciate what you did here, but we can't, you know? Lower program standards to accommodate everyone. You should be willing to meet the standards we've set cats in three say it out loud say proud one two three thank you tests at the end of the day one I'm about to go see if I made the cut even if I make it to the end don't worry about it By not taking any spots from real students who want to be on the cheer team, I made it to 24th place.

And even though I made the cut on the second day, I started to feel a little nervous because I noticed that some of you are not subscribed, so what Please. help us reach 3 million by subscribing okay guys go ahead and start wiping the floor clear the floor come on let's stretch stunts it can be a tough stretch stretch your hands bend up to stretch rewind , hitting, anything that shows up like that, the girl is able to stretch and the guy can maintain the stretch with a takedown. I know you haven't done it before, but we're going to move fast, you learn fast, so we'll just prepare you for it.

Are you ready, yeah, okay, let's do it right, one, two, oh, okay, pull the stretch, nice pop, you went to reach the stretch instead of breaking it, yeah, buckle up, keep that hand at your side and slide it in up your leg, yeah, just slide it up. the foot is fine, it is fine, stretch well, you ready, yeah, one, two, one, yeah, that's what I'm talking about, come on, I want you to lift up and close this pocket the moment youPut your elbows out, our noses are broken, okay, one, two, wait, okay, wait. I'm sure, wait, I'm shaken, they won't even see it coming, yeah, let's do it, come on, 24 and 25. come on wildcats, come on, UK, look at her, she's ready, one, two, look at that smile, okay , pool. stretch, you've got this, you're ready, one, two, oh she learned to pull down, come on uk, I'm putting hearts in my notes for that, I told her she didn't have to try to double down, I was like you could get a complete. down and learned how to pull down in one day after surprising the trainers with my stretching stunt trainer, Ryan decided to surprise us, we were told that we now had only 15 minutes to learn a completely new animation from scratch that would be presented at the audition tomorrow in front of hundreds of people, so you'll start doing it.

I think one skill that cheerleaders really need to have is the ability to be adaptable, obviously we don't control what happens in the basketball game or football game etc. we have to be listening and be ready for anything one two three four kentucky let's listen to you yeah turn blue oh sorry sorry my feet were too far apart you're just rushing the extension kentucky let's listen to you yeah go breathe don't don't stress this with all this new information they threw at me. I definitely started to feel fatigued heading into the third day, just reminding you that you were on the news last night telling the public this was happening, the first open test in three years.

There is pressure. pressure and you should be excited about the pressure if you want to be a part of this show you should be excited to be able to show off in front of a crowd you will be able to do this tomorrow you will be able to do this in front of the memorial is It's going to be fun, cats in three, say it out loud, say it with pride, one, two, three, and although the second day is a challenge, I made the cut, giving me the opportunity to live my dream for just one more day.

Alright guys, how's everyone? Three is the big day Michelle will arrive here and the entire arena will be full. This is where you show everything you've been working on. She'll really see what it's like to fight that battle and feel that sense of pressure on her. It will all come down to how well you do compared to these other athletes. I'm proud of you guys for making it this far. I'm excited for you guys to be able to do this, honestly, I'm excited for me. I'm not even going to lie, it's just that the little girl in me who grew up here is honestly very humbled and overwhelmed to be here today, let's do this guys, good luck today, good luck, you're going to do what number do you have?

I'm 14. 24 at the end, that's the last one, oh my God, okay, first, we have mail number one, now the trainers are looking for a floss, they are looking to see if you have improved from the first day, the last day I could . be the best kentucky we've heard all day she could have done a little more yeah but she was strong to perform an elite trick so I'm trying to get my front hand up and we can't get it consistent just squeeze a little harder when I grab you like you're coming in right, when I'm going to pick you up the grip stops and then like I can't throw, like I'm like I'm throwing and like you're like letting yourself fall, you got it, You got it girl, come on, this is easy, okay, okay, come out, oh my god, okay, we're getting better, it's getting better, I'm definitely not sure about it right now and this is a really dangerous thing. on michelle, you got this, you got this, push, yes ma'am, okay, make sure you push them back, if you stop in that handstand, that will cause your arms to shoot back, so make sure you shoot back, I want you to do it.

Relax until we go okay, okay, don't overdo it number 24, okay, let's do it, come on Daniel, come on Michelle, I think she starts off ready, she has great energy, yeah, can I be ready? 24. what she learned in three days what because she didn't do that she has never done two back and forth no dingo said she had never done it she never knew before she got engaged she keeps doing things and doesn't tell me she's doing it I'm kidding I'm as surprised as everyone else 24 hey come on I hope someone in the crowd jumped for Michelle they love him see Michelle that's what I'm talking about this is fun though can I get ready? 24.

Good lead hand, relax, okay. okay, when you're ready we'll do it, okay, let's do it, come on, go, okay, stretch the pool, are you ready, yeah, one, two, hit the u, okay, come on, wildcats, good job, how was that? Oh my god, we did it. so scared we only hit him like three times before, hey, it all matters what you do here, even though it wasn't the best, he still stayed there, thank you all so much for coming. We will take about 45 minutes to finish. hour and then we'll announce our teams thank you I feel like this huge exhale I literally thought I was going to come here and look so bad and I probably did but I literally feel this huge release of oh my gosh.

I did it and I learned a lot, like stunts or falls, you're okay, as hard as you can, you have to distract me from what they just saw, I'm going to start doing that, you were a cheerleader, the crowd loved you, the team. I loved you, I loved you, the coaches loved you, so now it was a blessing to have you and we are very grateful that you chose Kentucky to come work for us, so your hope is to make the blue team. Yes, yes, that is everyone's hope, of course, yes, yes. Alright, first I just want to start by thanking everyone who came today, let's hear it one more time for everyone who went through this process.

Let's go ahead and start with our blue team. Women first, first, number one, Maddie Hayes, number three. number fourteen number 11. number three and our last boy on the blue team today number 13. boys for the white dot first number 23 number 18. number 10 number 20 number 15 number 22 and last we have number 12. number 24 please come I think our team can learn a ton from your confidence and I think your performance scores actually got you a lot closer than we thought going into this, but obviously just with the skills, I mean the drop, it's hard to learn how to flip. your body if you haven't been doing it, we do a standing tuck in our fight song, you know, that's something we're doing in the fourth quarter in warmups when it's cold, I just don't believe it. that you know we're still there, but I definitely wanted to take the time to say thank you so much for doing this and you impressed us, but you won't be able to be a part of this team, okay.

I'll leave it to the professionals. I knew I wasn't going to make the team. I was just really overwhelmed at the thought of having fulfilled one of my childhood dreams, and even though I wasn't skilled enough to make it through the three days, I did. getting to feel like part of the team even if it was only for a short time and as mentioned above, if you're interested in the flexibility program I followed to help me prepare for this episode, it's all linked below in my mk fit app. where you can also find all my nutrition guides, favorite recipes and best practices for my health and fitness, so if you want guidance on your own journey, check out the link below.