i love you too adam!!  and for the person who asked, no i'm not on the team anymore.  i got my world's kicks in, and now i'm retired!

as for the giving up weekends, yes.  we all gave them up.  but as for the "extra fun" stuff, i guarantee if you ask the boys they'll agree with me, taking 2nd at worlds made up for it.  i know, i know.  cheer shouldn't be everything, we should do other things like meet boys (or girls), go to dances, etc, etc...

i'm 21 now, but if i had the opportunity when i was younger to be on the 2nd best team in the world, i would have jumped on it.  just like every olympic gymnast misses her high school prom, or gets homeschooled, or even lives with her coach!  i think as long as you experience SOMETHING outside of school, whether its school related or club TEAM related no matter the sport, you're doing something right.  think about it, you meet new people both ways right?  and you get to do fun things both ways right (i think going to florida, vegas, palm springs, etc. counts as fun!)?  you get to travel, do team dinners, make best friends, everything you do "extra" in high school, just not in school! 
i never got into the whole "extra" school stuff.  i was in gymnastics 30 hours a week till i was 14, then started cheer, got hooked, and was in the gym almost as much!  its not for everyone, just like the extra high school stuff isn't for everyone.  do i ever feel i missed out on anything?  NOPE!  i loved growing up in the gym!  and do i look back and regret it now?  not at all....

different strokes for different folks!  as long as the kid's happy and doing whatever they're doing for themselves (not their parents), i think its great!