To prepare for competitions and work their way towards nationals, the cheer team meets in the auxiliary gym on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 4:30 p.m., working together to improve their skills.
With competitions starting early this year, the cheer team puts in hard work to prepare to compete.
“We do a dynamic warm-up typically,” JV cheer coach Maria Tarsi said, “just back and forth on the mat, warming everything up before we stretch.”
According to Tarsi, a “dynamic warm-up is more just kind of moving, like a jumping jack, high knees, butt-kickers.”
“We go into stretching,” Tarsi said. “We do static stretching.”
For cheer captain Elizabeth Kane, warm-up is “just basic, making sure that we’re still flexible. Usually our splits.”
According to Kane, once the team finishes with their warm-ups they spend time on one of two routines, their game day routine and their traditional routine.
“The game day routine,” Kane said, “simulates being on the sideline. We have a band dance, cheer and a chant.”
According to Kane, a traditional routine is “graded highly on complexity and tumbling,” complete with a pyramid and stunt sequences.
When competition season comes around, usually lasting from November to February, that’s when things pick up for them.
According to Tarsi, unless it’s competition season the team usually won’t meet on weekends, except for choreography.
According to cheerleader Avery Dunning, competitions are “almost every weekend.”
According to Dunning, competitions usually consist of the team checking in and getting straight to work.
Dunning said that the team is sent into a room where they are given time to go over their routine and stretch. After their warm-up time, they are then sent to the mats to compete. “It usually takes a few hours,” Dunning said, “just depending on how many people are there at the competition.”
According to Dunning, “We have a bunch of fun until awards.”
As per Dunning, after the awards, they get on the bus and talk about how it went. “We usually talk about it more at practice,” Dunning said. “If something was really good, we’re going to all go around and say that and have fun with that, but if something’s bad, we try not to get too upset about it, just on the bus.”
In hopes of always having the “right mindset” as a team, Kane feels they “push each other.”
“Our team is so good at pushing each other up and making sure that we are always in our right mindset,” Kane said.
According to Tarsi, the captains lead the team through warm-ups and stretches.
In line with Dunning, the captains also lead the team through competitions, which is why it’s important for the team to pick their captains carefully. “They pick leaders that they respect,” Tarsi said.
Kane was chosen as a captain. “They voted for me to be one of their captains, and it’s very flattering to know that they like me being their leader just as much as I like to be their leader,” Kane said.