Welcome to Base Camp by Altitude. Before you do anything else inside this community — introduce yourself right here in the comments below. This is how you find your people. A base in Texas finds another base in Texas. A 15 year old male cheerleader finds other male athletes who get it. A flyer chasing her college dream finds someone on the exact same path. It all starts with this post. Use this format: Name: Age: Hometown: Position: Current gym or program: Biggest cheer goal right now: One thing I want to get out of Base Camp: Drop your introduction in the comments below and go find someone else who just introduced themselves and welcome them. That is the culture we are building here. The climb is better together. — Coach Jay

I tore my Achilles. For an athlete that is one of the scariest sentences you can hear. And I want to be honest with you about what that has felt like — because I think it matters for some of you who are going through your own version of adversity right now. The first thing I felt was not pain. It was the thought of everything I had planned that suddenly felt uncertain. But here is what I realized within the first 48 hours: The Achilles heals. The build does not stop. I cannot train right now. I cannot demonstrate on the mat. I cannot do a lot of the things that defined me as an athlete for most of my life. But I can coach. I can build. I can create. I can show up for the athletes and businesses I am responsible for. So that is what I am doing. This boot on my foot is not a pause button. It is just part of the story. If you are going through something right now that feels like it is slowing you down — I want you to know that the climb does not stop because of one setback. It just looks different for a while. Keep going. — Coach Jay

What’s up climbers! First of all I wanted to say thank you for joining this community. I am beyond excited to share with you all and watch you all share your journeys in here! So far NO ONE has introduced themselves in the climber introduction section😂 I know this platform is new so it’s going to take some getting used to! I’m going to post a tutorial on how to guide through the community so you can get the most value out of being here at Base Camp by Altitude. I challenge you all to share this community with 2 of your friends that you believe are SERIOUS about growing in this sport so we can ALL excel together. 💫 Tutorial coming later today. Only keeping this up temporarily announcement up temporarily! GO INTRODUCE YOURSELF 🧗‍♂️

Something I wish someone had told me before college: The transition from high school and Junior USA to collegiate cheer is real, and if this is something you truly want for yourself, you need to prepare for it. And I don’t mean skill-wise. I mean emotionally. I wish someone had told me that college wasn’t going to expose my weaknesses as an athlete nearly as much as it exposed my relationship with myself. For years, I thought being hard on myself was what made me successful. I thought confidence came after achievement. I thought the athletes who made it were the ones who never let themselves be satisfied. So I was constantly chasing the next skill, the next accomplishment, the next reason to finally feel like I was enough. The problem is that no achievement ever fixed that feeling. When I got to Alabama, I realized college cheer wasn’t just a harder version of what I had done before. It was a completely different environment. For the first time, I was truly on my own. And when you’re on your own, the way you talk to yourself matters. The pressure you put on yourself matters. The belief you have in yourself matters. Because the same voice that shows up when you’re struggling in practice is the voice that shows up when life doesn’t go your way. College exposed that for me. It showed me how much of my self-worth was tied to performance. How often I tore myself down in the name of discipline. How much energy I spent trying to prove I belonged instead of believing I belonged. At the same time, I realized the athletes who earned the most trust weren’t always the most talented. They were the most coachable. The most consistent. The athletes who could get corrected without taking it personally. The athletes who made everyone around them better. The biggest lesson college taught me wasn’t how to stunt better. It taught me that confidence isn’t something you earn after you’re good enough. It’s something you choose before you feel ready. Now, don’t misunderstand me.

Welcome to Base Camp by Altitude. I am Coach Jay and I am genuinely glad you found this place. Most athletes are figuring out the cheer journey alone. Scrolling Instagram, watching highlight reels, wondering how the athletes they admire got to where they are. No real answers. No real community. Just noise. That ends today. Base Camp by Altitude exists for one reason — to give serious cheer athletes, driven parents, and young people building something in this sport a real home. A place where the people around you understand the journey because they are on it too. Parents — you are welcome here too. Follow along, ask questions in the Recruiting 101 category, and celebrate your athlete's wins in the Wins and Recognition thread. This is where the climb begins. Some of you will stay at Base Camp and get everything you need right here. Some of you will use this community as the launching pad into Altitude University — where the structured climb toward college cheer recruiting begins in full. Either way — you belong here. Read the Newcomer Checklist below this post. Complete it before you do anything else. Let's climb. — Coach Jay Kendrick Founder, Base Camp by Altitude 7x World Champion | Netflix CHEER | Team USA | Navarro College | The University of Alabama.