Hello we are the San Juan family and our son RJ is an Allstar cheerleader. Our journey to all star cheer has been interesting especially since cheer at this age traditionally is seen as a gender specific sport by so many.

At the age of 4 RJ showed signs of sensory challenges so we began occupational therapy. We even transformed our home into a therapeutic sensory space and used the trampoline often. Yes! We all jumped inside that thing.

By the age of 5 RJ showed a love for dance and movement. Thus, we enrolled him in Hip Hop classes and he wanted to do Acrobats. He loved spinning on the floor, jumping high, taking risks and was fearless which scared us at times. However, we saw him regulate, and thrive in many ways. This was such a relief. What we learned as parents was that while OT was good the innovation within the artistic forms was more intriguing and thus more beneficial for his age. So we continued on for a few years adding Jazz and even Stepping as dance forms as well.

at the age of 7, RJ was at his sisters cheerleading assessment and wondered to the tumble mat. The owner was amazed at what he was seeing him do and this is how our Journey To All star cheer began. After we were asked if RJ would be interested in joining the tiny team, as parents It took us a while to answer so many questions mainly about how the world would treat our son: But, the enthusiasm in him super surprised us. RJ didn’t care about what others thought, he wanted to be a part of something bigger, fun and rewarding. We didn’t know how we were going to make this happen financially. All star cheer is expensive ($4-5,000) and we had 2 athletes in the sport. Yikes! But as parents we thrive to provide the things our parents couldn’t so we figured it out by picking up 2 jobs which took a toll on our family time.

So, year 1 of all star cheer started off of course with challenges: it’s too loud, too many ppl, they are yelling, and a lot of crying and isolating. However, with the support and understanding of his coaching team he moved forward and Boy did he thrive. There were other challenges too surrounding gender roles. One day RJ came home and said, “The kids at school said cheerleading is not for boys. “ his little eyes said so much. But before we said anything he smiled and shared “ I told them boys cheer in college”. He then shared with us that while he was sad the kids were making fun of him his teacher supported him. He said “ my teacher shared a YouTube video of me to the class! And now they think I’m famous! They didn’t know I could do a cartwheel or tumble or perform like that on a big stage in different places “. Thank you to that teacher you know who you are! This right there helped breakdown the gender norms that still exist. It helped embrace diversity in skills, talents and athleticism and most importantly it helped a kid who struggles with socialization become a connected part of a community.

We couldn’t have done this without the support of all the families at the gym, our own families and the amazing school admin-teachers and afterschool staff, and our friends we appreciate you. They all embraced our son, showed him so much love and empowered him.

We are proud to share that the team he was on placed grand champions, best moves, 1st , 2nd and 3rd all year and went on to Prep and Rec nationals to place 4th overall.

last year while it was amazing, it came with a lot of sacrifices and we debated not returning due to the financial investment it requires, but we couldn’t say no to something that makes RJ the best version of himself. So we are reaching out to our online community in an effort to help fund RJs all star journey. Together we can continue to see him flourish as a young person, athlete and teammate. Any donation big or small makes his dream a reality and gives us more time as a family. Thank you in advance!