“Like any sport, pom can be an obsession based on one’s passion for it. I think at times I was obsessed.”
When Lauren Rabine started pomming in the 7th grade it was just a fun time with friends. She never expected that she’d still be involved in the sport 10 years later, let alone coaching the team at her Alma Mater.
The years Lauren was on the high school team, 2008 to 2011, the team made school history; they won 2nd place at states in division 2. The drive she had to perform was unmatched. She remembers performing through a torn achilles tendon at a pom summer camp and having the team catch her while falling off the floor at the end of the performance because she was in so much pain.
As her high school pom career came to an end she auditioned for a professional position within the organization that holds pom competitions every year. She landed a prestigious spot on “staff” and performed and mentored professionally for 3 years, all while studying education at Saginaw Valley State University.
“Not only was I actually paid for something I loved, I got to meet countless amazing women involved with pompon. The girls I worked with helped me to grow into the person I am today,” Rabine shared.
She also performed with the SVSU collegiate team for two years at the same time. That’s a lot of time spent pomming.
“I think the only times I paused (from pom) were due to injuries, but even then I was at every practice until I could perform again,” Lauren said.
“My worst memory was getting injured. As any athlete knows, understanding that your injury isn’t an overnight fix is truly heartbreaking. Finding out your injury isn’t fixable, well that is honestly devastating,” Rabine admitted. “I was informed that my kneecaps were worn in from overuse due to pom. This meant my time actually pomming had to come to an end, quicker than I had wanted.”
After realizing performing wasn’t an option she knew her next step was coaching. She’s now the assistant coach of the H.H. Dow High varsity pom team, her alma mater, and currently coaches younger sisters of the girls she used to be on a team with.
“It’s a different kind of passion now, one that’s more around helping a program succeed and the girls involved. Doing what I can to help the program potentially win is a serious passion for me now,” Lauren said
Midland, Michigan native Lauren Rabine, center, performs the charger fight song with the current H. H. Dow Varsity pom pon team and other alumni during the homecoming game on Sept. 25, 2015. Rabine, who has been pomming consecutively for eight years and graduated from H. H. Dow in 2011, returned to her alma mater this year to be the assistant coach of the varsity team after stepping down from pomming professionally.The H.H Dow Varsity Pom Pon team holds a dress rehearsal for their Mid-American High Kick competition in the H.H. Dow High School gym on Nov. 7, 2015. The team performed a drum line themed routine for the competition, in large part due to their special bond with the marching band. The H.H. Dow pom team is one of the only teams in Michigan to perform to songs the band plays at football games.Lauren Rabine, center, talks to Madeline Hayes, left, and Hannah Robinson, right, before their homecoming game on Sept. 25, 2015 at the Midland Community Stadium. Rabine is an alumni and the assistant coach of the varsity pom pon team, and pommed with many of her team’s older sisters during her high school years.Colleen Rabine, top left, and Lauren Rabine, bottom left, braid the hair of the HH Dow Varsity Pom team before a dress rehearsal at HH Dow High on Nov. 7 in Midland, Michigan. Her worst memory pertaining to 8 years of french braiding hair for pom was “accidentally making someone cry because I was pulling too hard.”HH Dow JV pom coach Colleen Rabine, left, varsity coach Kerry Hegenauer, center, and assistant varsity coach Lauren Rabine, right, cheer on the HH Dow JV pom team during their performance at the Mid American High Kick Championship Competition on Sunday, Nov. 8, 2015 at the Dow events Center in Saginaw, Michigan. Lauren Rabine has been pomming for 8 years, four of which were with HH Dow. Her mother, Colleen Rabine has been involved with the HH Dow pom program since Lauren’s freshman year. They both now hold a coaching position at the school.Lauren Rabine hugs her father, Bernie Rabine after showing him a video of the dress rehearsal performance in their home on Nov. 7, 2015. Lauren lives in the same home as her mother and father with her two twin brothers. All three are saving the cost of paying rent while going to school.Lauren Rabine, left, exits the Saginaw Events Center after her first competition as assistant varsity coach on Nov. 8, 2015. Rabine is studying education at Saginaw Valley State University and plans to coach a pom team where ever she gets a job in the future.The H. H. Dow varsity pom pon team accepts their award for fifth place at the Mid-American Pom Pon High Kick Competition on Nov. 8, 2015. Colleen Rabine, in black on left, Kerry Hegenauer, center, and Lauren Rabine, right, coach the program together.Kerry Hegenauer,, left, and Lauren Rabine, right, make an early morning run to Meijers to pick out a team lipstick color before competition on Nov. 8, 2015.Lauren Rabine, 21, of Midland, Michigan coaches the H.H. Dow High Varsity Team before their performance at their homecoming game on Sept. 25, 2015 in the Midland Community Stadium.
Kaiti Grant 