To paraphrase a popular saying out in the world, tough times don’t last, tough people last. We are all going to struggle at some point in our lives – it’s inevitable, and unfortunately we can’t avoid it.
Because if we don’t struggle in our lives, we aren’t the strong people we become. This sentiment can be true in a lot of places – from simple life challenges, to the bigger life challenges, to sports… it’s everywhere.
Speaking of challenges in sports, as humans we look upon sports to enhance our “tough mentality” and to increase our stamina and perseverance as we seek to reach the pinnacle of our lives. The Chiefs are a great, very recent example of this, but another great example, right here in Cary-Grove, can also provide the sentiment of strength we all seek to have.
Trojans cheer has reached state the last two consecutive seasons, and they have, in both years, placed the highest in CG history – 12th last year, and they made it to the second day of the state tournament for the first time ever this season, placing ninth.
Success usually doesn’t come without its share of challenges to overcome, even with the end goal being the talk of the town, and Trojans cheer certainly had a lot to overcome in 2023.
“It was definitely a long road,” senior Viviana Neuses said. “Lots of struggles, lots of grit that we had to use throughout the whole entire season. It was really, really hard, especially December. It took a lot from everyone to get to where we were.”
“We had a lot of injuries this season, so it seemed like every single competition we had different athletes on the mat,” head coach Brittany Starr added. “Their routine was constantly changing, and they constantly had to adjust and redo everything.”
These struggles, as many as there were, eventually led to success, as CG gained momentum in the sectional tournament and rode it to success in state.
“Going into sectionals we started hitting, every single day. We hit every single day that week, we hit at that competition, and then every single day the next week,” Neuses said. “We honestly didn’t expect this at all, but it turned out to be the best thing.”
“The girls worked really hard, and they really deserved it,” Coach Starr said.
The success we have been seeing at Cary-Grove athletics and IHSA-categorized events for arguably this entire century has been grounded on grit, perseverance, and teamwork, always striving to be the best version possible every day. There are never excuses made at CG, and the Trojans time and time again find a way out of the tough times.
No hole is too large to get out of, and no tribulation is too massive for positivity and grit to find its way into the minds and hearts of all involved with athletics at Cary-Grove. The values we have been grounded on at CG throughout our entire 62-year existence can only continue with the next generations getting the opportunity to flex their muscles. For CG cheer, they seek to expand their program and make it the best it can be for the future.
“We know that our feeder program doesn’t have many athletes coming into high school,” Coach Starr said. “We’re hoping with the success of the season that more people are appreciating cheer and will come and give it a try, and hopefully keep growing our program, making it bigger and better.”
It’s as clear as day that when habits become universal, and success is created from them, those influences will reach individuals who may not have seen the true behind-the-scenes of what makes Cary-Grove, our academics, and especially our athletics tick, and down the line it will be intriguing to see what is bred from it.
It also may be true that “today’s the day,” but the toughness shown by Trojans cheer, with coaches and athletes alike, will certainly carry into tomorrow, and make tomorrow the ultimate days to look forward to.