Intensity. Laughter. Tears.

in Featured Articles by Kevin Railsback — November 22, 2009 at 8:00 pm | 2 comments

Intensity. Laughter. Tears. A CR Spirits practice can be all the above.

But whenever I think of practices, I think back to my days playing football in Maryland or basketball in Iowa. It was all business. You suited up, you hit the field or court and you practiced till you dropped then you got up and practiced some more. Make a mistake on the football field, you run a quarter mile. Make a mistake on the basketball court, you run a suicide.

The coaches weren’t your friend. They had one goal, win games.

Tom Hanks said in “A League of their own. There’s no crying in baseball!” There’s no crying in football either. When I broke my hand during a football practice, the coach told the trainer to wrap it and get me back on the field. The only thing I remember from those practices was the intensity. It was all out 100%

The only thing a CR Spirits practice has in common with my memories of those practices is the intensity. By the end of the night, you know those girls have had a workout. I’ve seen them completely worn out but get back up and do a routine again because it had to be as polished as possible. So that part of the practice I can relate to.

But that’s only a third of a Spirits practice. One thing you’ll notice right away is that there is a lot of laughter. They come in laughing, and most of the time they go home laughing. Tired, but still laughing. And if they’re too worn out to laugh, they smile.

It seems they can’t go for very long without someone starting to laugh and pretty soon the whole team is laughing. Of course, when you have Tiffany telling stories about getting a call from a Motor Speedway about a performance and thinking it was because she had been speeding on the interstate, it’s hard not to laugh.

At least once during a practice everyone sits in a circle and take the time to discuss not only schedules and performances, but what’s going on in everyone’s life.

No topics are off limits. Where most teams would try to bury any personal issues, the Spirits bring them to the forefront and discuss them openly. If you know Tiffany at all, you know that’s the only way she operates. And sometimes there are tears. Not often, but sometimes. But the amazing thing is that a practice never ends with tears because no matter how the practice goes or how bad a day someone is having, everyone feels better when they leave than when they came in.

A CR Spirits Practice isn’t like any practice I’ve ever seen before. It’s part dance, part sisterhood, part therapy. Practices are open to the public on Wednesday nights. You should come and see one for yourself sometime.

Also, if you happen to follow the journey of this documentary on a regular basis, I just wanted you to know that most of the veteran members did text or call Tiffany to see what changes were in store that I had mentioned in a previous post. Hopefully they won’t be too mad at me and show me the door!

Tags: Cedar Rapids CR Spirits Dance Team Escape to the Music featured Iowa Kuehl Tiffany