The sudden and unexpected orders of community and business shutdowns brought about by COVID-19 have had tremendous effects on me, my family, and our small business during this time. Our passion for sports and children is expressed through East Coast Flames Allstarts, our competitive cheerleading and training facility that serves approximately 65 athletes and their families. We are open yearly for athletic training and team building, and travel through the months of December-May for competitions and performances across the state. We’ve been running this business, meeting and training new athletes and children of all ages for the last 20 years. This is the first time in our history that our season has ended so abruptly, and left us disconnected not only from our jobs, but from our extended family. We’ve gone from seeing one another daily, to now being a part for well over a month due to quarantine. The virus outbreak has changed our daily routines, our relationships with others, and most importantly the way we view our world. The love of cheerleading has played a major part of our lives for so many years, and now that we’ve gone without it for such a long time, we question how will physical connections recover when the virus is over? Our main priority during this time is safety, without a doubt, but will we get back to doing the things we truly love any time soon? On the other hand, I have been able to spend quality time and remain my health safely at home with my immediate family. I have stayed up to date with the updates from our officials and leaders, and have an extreme appreciation for those on the front lines to compat this pandemic. All in all, I have been doing my best to remain hopeful and uplifted that in doing my part of staying home, and encouraging those around me through our virtual link ups to do the same, I am confident that together we will all be able to overcome these uncertain and unfortunate times.
A Cheerless Pandemic
Note: Responses which fell closer to the middle (between two or three options) are shown as two dashes.