The smell of hairspray wafts through the air. All the Nike shoes are gleaming. Every girl’s face is alive and ready to go. Anticipating the brutality of tryouts, their girls await for their results.
On April 13, a gaggle of girls will gather in the gymnasium ready to give all they’ve got. Cheerleading is very competitive and the future team will get the experiences of a lifetime. But only so many girls will make it, giving Friday the 13th an even more doomed meaning than those of just superstitions.
“ I don’t like tryouts because they stress me out, but in the end I’m always glad I did it,” sophomore Jenna Cleveland, a member of the junior varsity cheer squad, said.
The girls will have cheer clinics everyday the week of tryouts where they will learn tumbling, jump techniques, motion review, and learn motions to a dance. They will also review spiriting and have a mock tryout, all before Friday. Then in groups, they perform everything they have learned in front of a panel of judges.
Although the work is hard and the hours are long after school, the girls on the team think it’s worth every minute.
“ I love being on a team and having girls who are there for me,” Cleveland said.
Even the freshman remember their cheerleading year fondly.
“It’s been a great experience for me and I have loved being the youngest on varsity,” freshman Kennedy Snider said.
The strong sense of community between the girls is visible to the Southwest population. The way the team pumps up the crowd makes people excited to participate in the Friday night excitement whether it be football, basketball, or soccer.
“They really get the crowd going and keep the enthusiasm up during games. It’s so exciting,” band member Nathan Simmons said.
The team’s hard work puts the debate on whether Cheerleading counts as a sport to rest. The stunting, smiling, sweating, and determination of this team shows that anything is possible.
“ Being on this team helped me accomplish different tumbling tricks including a standing tuck. That was one of the greatest things ever,” said Snider.
With a talented team already going strong, the competition for the remaining spots will be fierce.