Yesterday, I had the pleasure of listening to loud music and screaming girls for almost the entire day. Concert you say? Not really. I was covering the Pine Bush Cheer For All Winter Fest Cheerleading Competition …
Everything started at about 5AM, when I set my feet on the floor and got out of bed. Little did I know what kind of day was in store for me! We got everything together and headed out for the Pine Bush High School. Once on-site, we setup our table, background, lights, computers and everything else that was packed in the back of our Nissan Rogue.
As the morning progressed, I captured nearly 800 shots of many different teams and individual performers and finally got my break for lunch around 12:30PM or so. As the afternoon session got underway, little did I know that one team – the S.S. Seward Spartans – was plotting against me.
As the Spartans got ready for their moment in front of the judges, a few of the squad’s members made the final preperations for the attack …
As their routine started, everything seemed normal – just like all of the ones before it. However, things were far from normal. All of the girls smiled as they danced and jumped around the mats … but their attack was just seconds away. As I sat on the gym floor in front of the judges, they armed themselves …
… and before I knew what was going on, they unleashed their attack …
Yes. Over a dozen, home-made, fuzzy, knitted pom-poms were flung straight at me – the poor photographer! After a few laughs from the girls and the crowd, they finished up and cleaned up any debris that was left!
Thankfully, the first aid crew was on standby. I spent a few minutes with them and before I knew it, they had me all bandaged up and back on the floor covering the other teams! 