By Ed Piper
"Peter, I'm sorry but I'm going to have to ask you to leave now," said Elsie Lopez, the new cheer advisor for La Jolla High. "We're starting tryouts."
I knew why she called me "Peter", even though that's not my name. I've had this before. It put a smile on my face and humor in my words. When people hear the last name Piper, they are prone to associate it with the first name "Peter", because of the tongue twister, "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers."
Even though they don't remember my last name after introductions--during which there are always distractions--they may think of "Peter".
The Big Gym looked very organized: Laptops were set on a table against the western wall of the gym for check-in. Blue mats were already laid out in the center of the floor, toward the back doors of the gym (the side used for the scoring table in volleyball). Lopez, 24, is assisted by her mother, Delia Lopez, the registrar at the school.
Many of last year's girls were visible and present for the first day of tryouts under the new coach. I wasn't aware of any advance notice of the coaching change, after about six years of Lopez's predecessor.
"I've never run my own program," replied Lopez in a quick conversation before the departure, "but I did cheer for eight years in school (and non-school teams)."
Asked if competitive cheer will be continued, Lopez said, "Yes, but later..."
Open tryouts continue Wednesday and Thursday, May 29, and 30.
Cheer camp will take place this summer, but Elsie said dates were not selected yet.
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