Get ready to cheer because The Raider Review has an exciting story for you! This article dives into the world of cheerleading at Eleanor Roosevelt High School. Explore how these talented cheerleaders feel about cheering in games and the incredible energy they bring to the sidelines and how they prepare for the season and competition. So grab your pom-poms and let’s jump into the action!
The ERHS cheerleading team cheers during each quarter during football games, and football games are typically 2 hours. As easy as it may look, it can be very exhausting as a cheerleader since having high energy, a loud voice, and a big smile are a must when performing. It’s usually pretty hot during football season, so athleticism is very important when it comes to cheering in such weather conditions. Before football season starts every cheerleader is required to run a 10-minute mile in order to be eligible to cheer for football season. If you don’t make it? You run it again until you do.
Before football season starts, there are summer practices that take place outside, rain or shine, from mid-July to August. There’s a great difference between general practice and summer practice. Summer practice mainly focuses on conditioning and preparing for the upcoming season. These times are brutal and no one looks forward to it, but it does help the team in the long run and is definitely good training for those who have no experience.
After summer practice is over the team can take a deep breath because the suffering is finally over (sorta). During general practice, tumbling mats, which are made with memory foam for the athlete to safely perform a skill, are rolled out and everyone is lined up in windows where each athlete stands in the gap of two people. Before the team starts they get warmed up and stretched, they go through the basic tumbling skills and stunts. During current practices, the team is preparing for competition season and the pressure is on! Conditioning is back, both the varsity and JV teams have been working on more complex stunts, tumbling, choreography, and technique. Hopefully, all the hard work pays off! Until then, the team can only keep working hard.
Varsity cheerleader Milan Wilson, says her thoughts while cheering for games and doing performances is to “try not mess up and try [her] best to breathe and most importantly have fun!” This will be Wilson’s second year cheering in the program and she enjoys every moment. JV cheerleader Glory Audu tells The Raider Review that her “favorite part of being a cheerleader during football games is meeting little kids that want to cheer when they grow up, it makes [her] feel like a role model to them and pushes [her] to work harder and be a better cheerleader.” Junior Alexa Palmer, a 3-year veteran on the team, says that she “wishes people knew that there’s a lot more to cheerleading than what is shown.”
Overall, cheerleading is a real sport that takes a lot of ambition and dedication. There’s way more to it than pretty bows, flips, and tricks!
