People always tell me ignorance is bliss.

I often choose to see ignorance as a sin.

Now that i've stepped into the workforce, the reason is very clear: people only look at results.

In my 4.5 years in this sport, i've met many cheerleaders from all walks of life.

Surprisingly, there are some who hate competitions.

Competitions = stress.

How nice would it be to just cheer without the competitions.. without having to fulfill any obligations. Without having to produce any results.

This, is ignorance. This is what i call living in your own world.

Without competitions, there is no incentive to improve. Without an incentive to improve, you will soon find that there will be disputes between those who want to strive for greater heights, and those who choose to remain in their own comfort zone. You may argue that ''i can still improve without joining competitions what ! We can all learn at our own pace and all of us can remain as one big happy family''

If this is what you think, then i beseech you to go do some research and find out what has happened to the cheerleading teams that disappeared over the years. Most of them had that exact same mentality.

I agree with weicheng on the part of how auto-correction will occur and equilibrium will eventually take place.

In the working world, the truth remains. People who stay in their own comfort zone will eventually get obliterated. The moment you can no longer meet your sales quotas, or the expectation of your bosses whose targets are perpetually in line with market sentiments, you are out.

This is the price to pay for ignorance.

Equilibrium for some, however, has more far reaching effects than others. With reference to the cheerleading teams who have rose and fallen over the years, statistics are the cold hard facts you cannot chose to ignore.

Cheerleading is exactly like the working world. Ours is a cruel sport.

You can have the best showmanship. Team mates who will live and die for each other. Thoroughly enjoying the routine during that short time on the competition mats and the process that has brought you there. There are some people who say , ''results don't matter. it is the process that matters. ''

I am not saying that this mentality is wrong. I am just saying that there is a price to pay for everything. And I am fully aware of this because I have paid that price.

If you chose to ignore how much people have improved, and how much the market has changed.. you will be left behind. And when you do, your institutions, your bosses will have a hard time justifying your existence. You will soon find that you cannot find the ''quality'' new blood because those who are really good will be looking at elsewhere to expand their talents. Your current team will be stagnant, losing all potential to grow because you as the leader together with your team are not improving. Eventually, people whose desire to improve will exceed you and your comfort zone. They will leave you, either for other teams or for other commitments. And this story will continue to repeat itself until your team ceases to exist.

Remember that cheerleading and the working world is very similiar. Anybody has the liberty to quit anytime. And you cannot stop them. Of course la, working ppl gotta give min one month notice before they quit.

This has been a very touchy topic that a lot of people has chosen to ignore but i personally think it is very important to be addressed. I am not being ''result orientated'' or ''power hungry'' for that matter. I am keeping things real. If you are somebody who is looking to expand cheerleading in the industry, you first must have the required expertise. If you are not that ambitious and just want to mantain your current team, you must possess the capability to do so. Sadly, expertise and ability are not enough. Along with it, comes the necessary connections you must have to back your cause. And in order for people with this kind of ability to support you, you must first give them a good reason why they should help you in the first place.

A simple causation flow chart would be:
higher stunt level ---> producing results ---> monetary support ---> further reason for your boss to allow you to continue to exist ---> able to exist long enough to cultivate new talent ----> new talent who surpass previous generation ---> having more abled coaches ----> able to bring out more teams ---> bigger numbers generate greater awareness ---> able to touch more people's lives through this sport ---> (and the list goes on).

I have made many difficult decisions over the years and I do admit many of them came with a huge price to pay. Having your past contributions and efforts forgotten and being remembered only for all the unpopular decisions you have made is only one of them. Despite all of these, I continue to receive this calling ( nothing to do with religion obviously =P ) for me to continue to cheer and to continously upgrade myself and the people around me. I don't get paid. And I definitely don't get fan mails. (sad!)

This is my story. Whether I am correct or not only time, will tell.