In April 2018 I was up late, watching the World Cheerleading Championships streamed live from the USA. The previous year I had managed Team England ParaCheer and been out there myself, but this year, as I sat up in bed watching the team honoured with gold medals, my tears of pride were for another reason: standing on stage alongside our national athletes was one of the girls from my own cheerleading programme — a girl who had come to me as a shy beginner many years before.