In his sophomore year of high school, Adin Lively (‘26), a then-baseball player, taught himself how to do a backflip. Just two years after his first stunt, Lively won the title of World Championship for Cheerleading. This year, Lively signed with Navarro College—one of the most elite cheer colleges in the United States.
“I fell in love with cheer…just everything about it: both the tumbling part, the bond the team has. What really caught my attention was the skill-set…I just wanted to see how far I could push myself to reach the highest levels” said Lively.
Beginnings
Raised in a small-town in Illinois, Lively grew up playing baseball and football for his school—activities often described as “team sports with individual moments.”
“With football, it was as if you had a specific part to play, and I didn’t necessarily like that about it. On the other hand, when I started cheer, it was more, ‘You’re here as a team,’ and not, ‘You’re playing one specific part to help one specific thing,’” said Lively.
When Lively discovered his new-found passion for cheerleading, he realized the extent he could go with the sport, and fell head-first: almost daily, he would drive two-hours across state lines in order to train.
“I just loved the sport, and I got good enough at tumbling where eventually, I started coaching. Eventually, I just decided to go online for my sophomore year, and would drive two hours to St. Louis, Missouri about six days a week to train,” said Lively.
Effort Pays Off
After years of dedication, Lively received a recruitment letter from the California All Stars Black Ops—a five-time World Champion team, as well as a dominant force in their division. Though he was unable to travel to California for his try-out, he was encouraged to submit a try-out through video. Soon, Lively received an acceptance letter.
“Funny story, but I actually never told my mom that I sent in a video submission, because the plan for us was always got me to spend my junior year bettering myself as an athlete. And so the next morning, I told her that I made the team and that I had to move to California, and she was very supportive and very loving,” said Lively
Many high-school athletes find challenges, both in their school-life, and their athletic-life. Living miles away from his family, Lively relies on team’s strong, family-like bond to overcome them.
“We’re all recruited from all over the United States, so we all don’t really have a family to turn to whenever practices or school get rough. So we all just turned towards each other, and I feel like that really helped us bond together as a team. At the level that we compete at…it’s hard to be successful if you’re not in unison,” said Lively.
Pushing Limits
After winning the All Stars World Championships, Lively has already pushed his limit within competitive cheer. While the gap between competition cheer and collegiate cheer is vast, Lively is ready for the new challenge. He hopes that he will find the same welcoming and strong team bond he had at All-Stars when cheering with Navarro.
“Honestly, I’m really excited because I feel like I’ve kind of reached the limit in All-Star Cheer with how far I can push myself. Obviously, there’s still more I can do, but I’ve kind of made it to the highest level already. There’s such a big gap in difficulty from here to collegiate cheerleading—I’m just really excited to push myself and just see how far I can take that,” said Lively.
Above all, Lively knows when it comes to athleticism, nothing is more important than prioritizing mental health.
“Before I decided to commit to Navarro, I told myself that if it wasn’t something that I could see myself being a part of, then I wasn’t going to do it, and I would look elsewhere. Thankfully, it really is like a big family over there, and I love the skill-set. I would say that the bond that I put a team’s bond before anything else, just because I feel like mental health is an important thing, and I would rather be somewhere where I’m happy and healthy instead of just being there just because it’s the best of the best,” said Lively.
A New Challenge
While Lively has a busy two-years ahead of him, after graduation, Lively plans to share his love for cheer amongst others.
“I think after my two-year commitment with Navarro, I might take some and do the Pro-Cheer League, where I would get paid to cheer, before I tried to open my own gym with my brother. I have so much love for cheer, and to get paid to do it would be amazing instead of paying to do it,” said Lively.
Evidently, Lively has been no stranger to challenges—at the same time, he has been no stranger to beating them.
“When it comes to mental blocks and challenges, the only thing that you can really do is just see the bigger picture. Know that no matter how challenging it is, you’re always going to make it through—but don’t ever give up,” said Lively.
