Let’s Hear it for Competitive Cheer!

Now that the fall sports have ended, we have winter sports, which already began on November 14. Some winter sports include track and field, basketball, wrestling, and cheerleading. Mr. Foster, who is the athletic director, says that about “150 students sign up for winter sports but can vary each year with the addition of cuts being made to finalize teams.”

Amongst the various winter sports, Competitive Cheerleading will have a team this year. Competitive Cheerleading, which is coached by Ms. Drohan, holds practices after school in the cafeteria from 2:30- 4:30 p.m. In order to join the team, tryouts are held to see who would be participating in competitive cheer for the winter season. Students sign up for cheerleading on Final Forms.

Ms. Drohan has been coaching Competitive Cheer for 17 years and assembles the music, routines, and sound effects to use in the competitions. In the past, Ms. Drohan has coached by herself. This year for the first time however, Ms. Aiello will be the assistant coach for Competitive Cheerleading. “We’re very excited to have her on board,” says Ms. Drohan. Assistant coaches benefit the team by assuring safety on the mat so that a person can master a skill promptly before competing.

As one can imagine, the majority of the sports require precautions that need to be taken in order to provide safety. This is true for Competitive Cheer with its tricky tumbling and stunts. According to Ms. Drohan, “We have a rulebook that we follow. We work on progressions so I make sure that they’ve mastered a skill before then move on to the next.” 

Fall season captains Maizie Poulakis and Allie O’Brien spoke about their past experiences, and hope to be captains again for the winter season. Both of their points of view of being team captain were optimistic. “It was a lot of hard work and having to learn leadership skills,” says Maizie. 

There are some struggles within cheerleading that one might go through, in which Allie advises to “have respect for others and put full effort into cheer.” 

Although cheerleading has just begun, they both have positive outlooks for what this season will bring. Their first competition this winter season is on December 4, in Longwood High school at 12 p.m.