30-LOVE CHEERLEADERS?

No, my daughter will never play tennis like Serena Williams. But, she is on the tennis team and today she made one of those unsportsmanlike choices. When faced with the conflict of a game or swim lesson, my daughter choose the swim lesson, leaving her doubles partner sans partner. I got irritable with my daughter because I couldn't decide if I should tell her she should go to tennis since she is committed to the team, or go to swimming as I have committed my unrefundable money to the class that is unmakeupable. I never had any strong commitment to sports, but out in the suburbs, sports are everywhere. Everywhere I look, kids are massing in large numbers chasing after some kind of ball. Tiny 6 year old cheerleaders roam the schools in their tiny cheerleading outfits. Even at that young age, those cheerleaders make me nervous. Are they already in popularity training, practicing rejecting those that are less peppy and coordinated? I was never a cheerleader, and I'm pretty sure I tried out and was rejected. There are only eight children on the Junior High Girls Tennis team, so my daughter's absence probably did cause a forfeited game. But, there must have been hundreds of those mini cheerleaders circling the football field this past weekend. Why are there no tennis cheerleaders?