Cheerleading

With basketball season starting this week, cheerleading season beings as well. Well, only partially. Cheerleading has two different seasons. We share one with the basketball team, and that is the only season most people associate with cheerleaders. Our other season begins later; it is competition. This season of cheerleading that makes it a true sport. Although people often say cheerleaders are unnoticed or pointless, I have often heard them ask why we were not at a game, and it is not only the fans. Last year we missed a few games due to competition, and a few of the players asked why we were not there.

Our competition season does not start until late January, but we may compete in a few practice competitions before. We did so last year, and had very few fans. It would be fantastic to see some fans supporting us after we always support them. I hope that we can make a run at state again this year. Last year we placed 14th. This may not sound too great, but keep in mind it was the first year of competitive cheerleading at St. Anthony High School. We hope to improve this year by getting top 10 and competing again Saturday.

We have some great new cheerleaders this year, and yes, I say new, not freshman, because they are not all freshman. Michelle Jansen has joined us as a junior. She, and the four freshman, have been working really hard to learn all the cheers and be ready for our first game. Emmie and Taylor switch off as flyers in one of our lifting groups and are doing an excellent job. Barbara has really showed her dedication by practicing everything we teach her outside of practice, unlike some of the others. Paige unfortunately has a broken foot and can not participate right away.

This past summer we traveled to Illinois State University to attend a UCA camp. We did exceptionally well considering we did not have a coach. We seniors stepped up in her place and used our experience to win first place overall in the competition routine.

Kelly Jansen