With the arrival of football season comes our favorite school spirit conductors: the cheerleaders. Over at Nelson, they are happy to be back out by the football field, rallying in their black and white uniforms. Since football games happen every other Friday, these girls are constantly staying after school and perfecting their moves.
Isabelle Walker, a Nelson junior who has been cheering for 5 years, says “We practice Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and then we have the game Friday. On Tuesday and Thursday, we practice competition stuff because we have competitions coming up this fall. Then, on Thursday, we work game day material. That means we will get into our lines and windows of how we stand at games and just go over some of the cheers and the fight song.”
When asked how this schedule affects her, she goes on to say “Sometimes it’s a little nerve wracking. Especially with stunting, because no one wants to fall at the game. Everyone gets pretty stressed out about that. And some of the girls.. not everyone.. get mad. I tend to keep my cool pretty well. I know our coaches wouldn’t put us out unless we were ready.”
Another cheerleader, senior Chloe Jablonski, says “Our sport is very mental. There’s a lot of things to memorize and just remember.”
Seeing as this is a small group of girls participating in physically and mentally draining activities, there’s a definite potential for friction. Walker admits “It’s pretty crucial to have a good team. Our first year there was a bit of drama with our teammates, and it kinda took the wrong turn. They were not very happy with each other. We’ve unfortunately had a lot of people quit. It’s very important to have a good structure of a team.”
Even though cheer can put you through a lot and not everyone sticks with it, those who do have found it to be very rewarding.
Cheerleader Astrid Keusey, a junior says “(Cheer) helped me meet a lot of friends I probably wouldn’t have met without it. Our team especially is pretty close knit. Our coaches help us feel confident in everything that we do. I know I can come to any of my teammates for anything. We do a great job encouraging each other. My team’s really important to me.”
Those who attend the games and see the cheerleaders will hopefully have a newfound respect for the cheerleaders commitment to enlivening the game.