Get to know Lovejoy cheerleader Ulani Phillips
LUCAS, Texas — Since she first became involved in the sport 11 years ago, Ulani Phillips had a dream of winning a National Cheerleaders Association cheer competition. She surpassed that dream when she and her team won that competition not just once, but twice. Her victories continued when her team also won the CHEERSPORT National All Star Cheerleading Championship in Georgia. Ulani is a member of the Lovejoy Varsity team, and has been on competition teams: Alliance Cheer Elite and Spirit of Texas.
Competing at this level requires a lot of time and commitment, which necessitates that she stay organized and manage her time wisely. She is a Senior at Lovejoy High School and has a new dream to win the UIL cheer competition. When she was a sophomore, the team won 3rd place. Her junior year they won 2nd place, so achieving her dream certainly appears to be within the team鈥檚 grasp. She gives her all when competing, 鈥淚f not, then why even do it at all? You should be proud of anything you do, so try your hardest.鈥�
While cheer takes up a lot of her time, it has taught her many invaluable lessons, including teamwork and team building. She said, 鈥淵ou have to get along and work together for things to go smoothly. No matter who you are, someone is always watching you and looking up to you so you should always act as one and lead by example. Always try to be a leader.鈥�
Mistakes happen and are a natural part of any sport but learning to overcome those adversities requires forethought and planning. 鈥淒uring cheer, it鈥檚 not uncommon to forget something. I have done it a lot. For me, I perform my best when I keep practicing until I get it,鈥� she said.
Ulani spoke to us about why she loves the sport, 鈥淚 love that there are so many aspects to it. There鈥檚 stunts, tumbling, dance, pyramids, jumps, and performing. Even if you aren鈥檛 a huge fan of one of these things you can go to a class specifically for it and work just on that. Even now, I don鈥檛 do competitive cheer anymore, but I will occasionally go to a gym and tumble. It is something I really enjoy!鈥� She has been doing competitive cheer for 9 years and took a break this past year but has continued with school cheer.
Ulani hasn鈥檛 chosen which college she wants to attend or if she will continue cheering. When she isn鈥檛 cheering, she enjoys spending time with her family and friends, as well as being able to swim and tan.
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