Cheer Angels

Florence Moines

Florence Moines has always harbored a love for cheer. Ever since she could walk, she devoted her life to cheerleading. From the bitty preschool cheerleading team to now, Florence is a master at all things cheer.

Flips, jumps, stunts, whatever you need help with, she will teach you how to do it like the back of your hand.

As a kid, Florence was always a base, left side preferably, because she is a leftie and is dominant on her left side. But, she can right base, fly, backspot, or frontspot, whatever.

Growing up in Sidney, Iowa, Florence grew up in a tiny town on the border of Nebraska. Florence loves her hometown, although it was a small town made up of only about a thousand people, everyone knew everybody. Her parents were itching to get out of Sidney, but they stayed, to make Florence happy.

As Florence grew up, so did her love of cheerleading. She would practice with little cousins or older cousins, and she would throw them in the air. Although her parents hated Sidney, they loved that Florence was active in her life and was devoted to something that made her happy.

Florence's love only grew larger in 2000, when Cheerleader America became a show. At the time, Florence was 10 and a half years old, watching girls from all 50 states come together to cheer to be on a national cheerleading team. She loves the fights, the drama, the routines, everything. Some seasons, coaches would get in fights because they like the same girl or girls. Florence loved it all. She knew she had to be from 15-19 years old to try out, and the judges would go to every town in their state and take somebody from their city, then county, and then the one girl left would be chosen to represent their home state.

As soon as Florence was old enough to try out, she did. From 2003 - 2006 she tried out, not making it every time. It hurt her pride to say the least, but she didn't give up, she tuned in and watched as whoever represented Sidney would get eliminated so easily, and that is the moment when Florence realizes that something like that would hurt more than being rejected off the bat.

Despite getting rejected, she only worked harder, touched up her toe touches, stretched her muscles until they were sore for hours on end, anything and everything. Giving up was not a word or a phrase in Florence's dictionary. There was no such thing as "I quit", quitting was for people who realized that they can't follow their dream because they can't even put any effort into it in the first place.

"A girl can dream, but it takes effort for your dreams to come true."

If Florence had a dream, as long as it was possible, she would achieve it.

She also knew that she had to keep her priorities in check. Good grades must stay, as she always said, graduating with a B+ average her senior year, she wasn't the smartest person alive, but she understood topics and apply them well. Despite having good grades, she decided not to go to college and focus on her cheerleading. She eventually became the cheerleading coach of Sidney High School. Once Florence graduated, her parents said that she had inherited the house and they moved two hours upstate.

It left Florence lonely for a bit, but this means that she could freely dance around the house without being judged, and sing so loud, and practice harder than ever. As much as Florence loves her parents, she felt like they were always judging her in some way. But, Florence was their only child, and so they always focused on Florence and her goals.

Now 20 years old, Florence is a young adult who loves the town that she comes from. She is always helping the seniors, playing board games with them at the library, giving back to the community, and doing community service for no reason. Florence has friends, but most of them moved away, either to other parts of Iowa or out of state. While saddened because of this, she keeps in touch by calling them weekly.

December 21 is a very important day, Sidney even named it an important day. Florence was born on December 21, 1987. "Florence Day" as the town calls it. Because Florence was such a name in her small town, they celebrate her birthday like Christmas Day. Sometimes, the first snowfall may come on her birthday, welcoming the change from fall to winter.

Life in Sidney was all that Florence has ever experienced. She never went on any vacations, only traveled out of state a few times for cheer, but never overnight. Why? Her parents had "financial problems" and couldn't afford to stay overnight, but in reality, Florence knew that her parents hated hotels. Her parents hated traveling, but Florence always did.

It was not much of an adventurous life for Florence most of her life. Sometimes, she just had the itch to leave and go wherever. When Florence was able to get her driver's license, she bought a car and drove for hours on end. Florence never had much adventure, but she was always pretty independent.

The television was on, as Cheerleader America was beginning to premiere. June was the month that Cheerleader America started trying out girls from city to city. This was the ninth season, and the theme was compass. As in North, South, East, and West. In the first episode, the four coaches were introduced.

Baron Malcomson: The coach of the west coast. Runs the California State cheerleading team, hoping to make a superteam. Known for his massive aura and his cockiness.

Tina Snapeli: The coach of the North/Midwest. A quiet and passive coach, but has very bold ideas.

Sandra Congrenti: Texas Native, coach of the south. Loves adding a little country flair to her routines.

Luís Indigo: From New York, an inspirational guy, probably the nicest guy that you will ever meet. Coach of the East and is known for routines that are not the average.

Florence couldn't wait for this season. As she was watching the tv, she was super excited this year, she knew something was going to happen, she just didn't know what.