Ava "Cheerleader" Franco

 

 

Last Friday night I was treated to Ava's (my oldest granddaughter) inaugural Cheerleading game.  She was fantastic, a natural.

 

She turns 7 in 2 weeks; and my how times changed, as I didn't know cheering starting that young.

 

But, she had all the same mantra's of go-fight-win, and some of the same cheer chants reverberated in my brain from 20 years ago when I watched almost every game that Jackie cheered in.  No, the picture in the middle is Ava and her older mini-me sister Angela.  Jackie is her aunt, and was unable to attend the evening's gala.

 

The half time routine was superb!  She really nailed that landing!

 

No, as for the game.  It was an amalgam of girls, ages 6-8, and wow, what an offensive juggernaut.  The refs are there for appearances only, as they do not call walking, traveling, running towards the wrong basket, over-anxious Dad's screaming from the bleachers, double-dribbling, muggings, stabbings, or fouls of any kind for that matter.  Most mercifully, the clock never stops running for the whole game . . .

 

The score at half time was 1 to 0.  Yes, you read that right.  The final score was 4 to 3.  Wow, it was a brutal loss for the Sparkler's, but fear not, Ava will be there to cheer you on to your next win!