Whenever Camryn Bickel does something exciting, she loves to tell younger brother.
And when Caine Bickel makes a great play or picks up a huge win, the first person he wants to talk to is his older sister.
They no longer live together during the school year, but Camryn and Caine still remain as close as siblings can be.
Bickel is a senior cheerleader at St. Hubert High School. She’s had an incredible career that included winning national championships, but this year when she won, she had to tell her brother over the phone.
He wasn’t in Disney while his sister was accomplishing her goals. He was in New Hampshire, where he’s going to school while trying to break into the world of professional hockey.
Living with a host family, he’s playing hockey at a high level up there. Though he’s a junior in high school, it will be his last year playing there. After the season, he’ll get drafted into the junior leagues in either Canada or the United States, where he’ll continue his journey into becoming a professional hockey player, with the goal to someday play in the NHL.
Both Bickels have had an amazing school year, and they have plenty of reasons to celebrate.
But sometimes they don’t need a party, they just need each other.
“I definitely miss him, but I’m happy he’s doing what he loves up there,” Camryn said of Caine. “We talk a lot, usually text, sometimes we’ll FaceTime with updates. After nationals, I called him and told him how good we did. He just had his last game for Seacoast Academy, so we went up to see him. He’s hoping to play in junior hockey. The draft is in two months.
“I feel like sports is all we talk about. Sometimes parents can be hard to talk to. Our parents are great, but sometimes you need a friend, so if he is ever frustrated, I’ll text him. ‘Keep your head up!’ And, ‘You know what you’re working for.’ I send him little reminders like that. And he’s a good brother, too, he’ll text me, too. He’ll text me good luck before cheer. We’re close.”
“Yeah, we’re real close,” Caine said about his sister. “If I ever need to talk about something, she’s always there for me. She called me when she won at nationals, I found out right away. And I always call her when I have a good game or I want to talk to her.
“I love it up here, I love playing here, I have everything, but sometimes I miss home, so it’s nice to be able to talk to her or my family.”
While they’re not together, they’re cheering each other on from afar.
Not only did Camryn star as a cheerleader, she’s run track at the school and competed in lacrosse. She’s also a member of the school’s student council and National Honor Society.
She hopes to continue cheering next year in college, as she works on becoming a lawyer.
“I want to major in psychology and see where that takes me,” she said. “I’m interested in defending people and I want to be a family lawyer, take care of kids who go through hard things in life. If a kid is abused, I want to help them.”
She’ll miss her school, though.
“I’m going to miss the school, especially the cheer team and cheer community,” she said. “It’s our offseason, usually we’ll still be working together. Now that I’m a senior, there is no next year, so it feels different. I miss it already. And the coaches. I miss them a lot.”
While she moves on to college, her brother awaits the Junior Hockey Draft to find out where he’s headed.
“I’ll be somewhere in British Columbia or US Hockey League,” Caine said. “The junior teams draft you and you have to make the team. The draft it’s after the season, then I’ll come home for a couple months during the summer.
“It’s great out here, I’m leaving with our goalie and we’re staying with the goalie coach. It’s been great. I’m playing at a high level and getting better. I’ll play anywhere, either league would be fantastic.”
And while both siblings were proud of each other, each also went out of their way to thank the one who paved the way, older sister Emily.
“Honestly, I’m very close with my older sister, too,” Caine said. “She’s helped me a lot. She has a kid now, so that’s fun. She played softball in high school. We’re a really close family. She moved out a couple years ago, but we’re still really close.”
“I started cheering when I was 5 years old because my sister was cheering at St. Hubert,” Camryn said. “We’re very close. She’s always looked out for me and helped me with anything.
“We’re such a close family. Definitely my parents and my grandparents are always there for us, too. My grandmom, she always keeps me going. We’re lucky to have each other. We’re all very close.”
