When life gets tough and knocks you down, which it will, there are two options: You can stay down, or you can get up, push through, and try again. Every once in a while, we meet an athlete or program who chose to put up a fight for their dream and overcame all odds.

This inspiring story, written by the Crimson Heat Tigers UK Gym Owner, Gareth Green, has motivated us—and it’s our mission to spread their story to you.

OPEN YOUR EYES:  Of the 200 athletes that week only one didn’t turn up to training. It wasn’t like her. We drove to her house to find her sat outside the front door on her drive. She was curled over, wrapped under her coat in the corner of her doorway. 

Freezing cold, she explained she was locked out of her house. I asked how long she had been locked out. 

“Three days” she replied. 

No food, just her bottle of water for three days, aimlessly walking around her town to fill her day. 

Age 12 years old, where were her parents? It turns out they left her alone on a week away, uncaring about their school-aged daughter left at home who locked herself out. We took the child in, contacted social services and police, and cared for her until another family member came forward to take her with them. 

You’d think this would be an isolated and extreme case for your local cheerleading team with 47 national titles, Summit Champions in 2017, World championship competitive program, but no. This was one of the hundreds of cases of intervention Crimson Heat have made with their athletes, service users, and their friends and family.

“Open your eyes to the lives of the athletes we serve.”

This is the common statement made at every staff meeting. By doing so you realize that behind the sparkly kit, the fully fitted gym, the noise of competition and endless trophies and banners are children at risk every day. 

Children starving, bullied, scared, anxious, alone, lost, unloved, abused. 

WHAT IS OUR ROLE:

As coaches, we are everything to our athletes. They live for our every word, our feedback and the support we give them. They work hard to hear that sentence: “I’m proud of you”. We ask them to make our program strong, to provide first-place trophies and a reputation of being the best. But in return, our role for every child should be spectrum wide. 

We must look deep into every life of every athlete and by doing so we will see a world of need open up before us. A chance for us to help and make a change for the positive. 

By opening our eyes into the lives of our families we realized cheerleading was just the foundation in which we could make a change for the better. 

Within our program we found 

• Refugees anxious and afraid about their future 
• Families unable to pay for bills
• Children abused by older pupils at schools
• Children bullied online 
• Children with issues surrounding food
• Children neglected by their parents 
• Children stuck in gang culture 
• Children unable to make friends at school
• Children failing educationally 
• Children needing medical support 
• Children living with alcohol-dependent parents.

Coming first is always what we strive to do. But nothing is more important to Crimson Heat then every member and their family being safe, healthy, and happy. 

Every week we see new challenges and issues and every week we work tirelessly to help support children and young people in the challenges they may face.

For some gyms spending £2.5 on one athlete refugee from Syria to get to Worlds and fulfill a dream of going to university is too much, but for us, it's life-changing and worth every penny. 

It may sound crazy to buy a parent a double bed with a good mattress, but her sleeping on the floor so her children can sleep well for school is an easy fix. Just £250 to change her life slightly for the better. 

I hear coaches discuss the best way to maximize profits in our gyms — and trust me we try hard. We work hard to lead the industry and push the level of our sport forward. But we work even harder and dedicate most of our time protecting the athletes we serve. 

There is no greater job in the world than this one. Owning Crimson Heat Tigers and working with great staff to make our athletes have every chance possible in life as well as the gym is a job worth waking up for. 

We will never be the richest program or have the best in kits. We will never drive around in company cars or holiday together while we have athletes that need help or funds and support to live a safe and healthy life. Like every gym, we have to budget. But seeing a child and her family have a month’s worth of food shopping and not have to go to food banks is priceless. 

I urge every coach to look deep inside their program and speak to every athlete on a 1-1. The world soon opens up in front of you and we realize how much change we have the power to make.

By Gareth Green, Crimson Heat Tigers UK Gym Owner

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