What we all hoped would never happen to us, just happened. The tears rolled down my face as fast as a little child rolling down a hill. Gaining more speed with each tear that had escaped from my eye. My competition make up had turned into puddles of black water, and as I looked at each of my team- mates I saw the same thing on all of them. Our national kickline champion crown had been ripped off like a band-aid on a hairy leg. After fifteen years, we lost it. From that moment on we all vowed to get the title that we deserved back.

All season we worked harder then ever, pushing ourselves, and each other to reach our full potential. It was grueling, we began doing things that we never did before in hopes that it would make the difference between us being good and being great. Every practice doing two hundred kicks with ankle weights was something new for our team. We had always had beautiful kicks but we had to learn the hard way that it isn’t just about the kicks anymore. We had opinions from former coaches, performers anyone and everyone in the business who could help. To say that my team was determined was an understatement. We practice five days a week, for a minimum of three hours each day in the hopes of one thing. Winning back our title.

Months had gone by and finally it was our time to shine once again. We were headed to the national competition to show everyone that we were ready and not leaving without a trophy. We had made it to the final round but so did the team that beat us last year and that was not okay with us. The scores were too close for comfort going into our final performance and we knew the one thing that would motivate us. Everyone closed the eyes and remembered what it was like when they didn’t announce your team for the first place trophy that we had all worked so hard for all year round. No one wanted to feel like that ever again and we all knew what we had to do. The answer was simple; we had to dance with our hearts, end of story. We were told to leave our hearts on the floor and that’s exactly what we did.

The two hours from the time we performed until the award ceremony couldn’t have gone by slower. It felt as if every time we checked our phones for the time it hadn’t changed. The suspense was killing us because we knew we had done all we could and were anxious to find out if that was enough to accomplish our goal. Finally it was time for the results and the tension in the room was almost too much to handle. Every girl on my team, arms linked, hands clenched and eyes closed hoping that we would not be disappointed again. The moment blurs together but when they announced the first place team and was followed by my team name, the excitement bubbled inside of me and exploded as if I was a volcano erupting. I remember one of the girls screaming, we did it, we really did it. The feeling was surreal to accomplish something that you had worked so hard for. I wished we never had to experience losing the year before but I whole-heartedly believe it made us a stronger team and prepared us for the obstacles that you face throughout life.