BY KOURTNEY VERMILLION, Sophomore
BLYTHEWOOD -- The cheerleaders of Blythewood High School do lots of work to prepare for competition season and progress over the season with summer workouts, tumbling classes, and practicing everyday.
Summer practices consist of running, lifting weights, and practicing choreography, cheers and chants.
Tumbling classes involve conditioning and mentally preparation to do the skill with the right technique.
Normal weekday practices consist of running, practicing competition routines, stunting, and tumbling.
“Competition days are long, exciting and make the hard work worth it,” B team cheerleader Katie Baxa said.
“I would wake up and make sure I had a great breakfast, begin fixing my makeup and hair then meet my team at school,” JV cheerleader Megan McCutcheon said.
Cheerleading coach Portia Young said she would want all cheerleaders to be confident in the skills they are performing at competition.
The coach’s expectations of cheerleaders change from tryouts to competition.
“At tryouts we are expecting to see returning cheerleaders to progress,” she went on to say
“During competition we expect perfection to be the goal of every cheerleader in her specific position.”
Other criteria such as attitude, technique, being sharp/tight, and staying positive go into account when coaches pick cheerleaders at tryouts.
Coaches expect to see different changes in the cheerleaders from tryouts to competition.
“This means the skill they tryout with is either more perfected in technique or they have acquired a higher skill to perform at competition,” Young stated.
“Competitive cheerleading is a sport that takes hours of hard work and dedication in order to be successful and win competitions,” Baxa said.
