The season for Friday night lights may be over, but the cheer team is far from hanging up their uniforms and poms for the year. In fact, performing at football games is only a fraction of what the team actually does.
It’s a fair assessment to say that the majority of high school students know very little about the world of cheerleading, and this sentiment is echoed by most people outside of the community. The most exposure that many high school students get is seeing the team at various sporting events; however, there is another whole other level of competition that often goes unnoticed.
High school sporting events are naturally a hub of excitement and energy, but they pale in comparison to cheer competitions. Coronado recently hosted one of these competitions in which our very own cougar cheer squad preformed. Teams compete with each other in two categories: the cheer, which focuses on crowd interaction and is very similar to the routines that they put on during sporting events, and the rest of the competition which focuses more on stunting, tumbling, and dancing. They are then judged by a panel that reviews the entire competition holistically through a variety of different criteria.
This in of itself is no simple task, but the Coronado Cougars have their hands full this year as they navigate a coaching change. Ms. Watson took over as head coach in early August this year which prompted the team to get a late start to their training, but she says that “the team has worked very hard to get to where they’re at right now” and that the team is likely to “be very competitive at state this year.”
Along with the coaching change, the team has experienced a bit of a culture change as well. The team has been incredibly involved in the school this year, even showing up to Cross Country’s Cougar Classic in September. This kind of supportive energy is a key part of the team and is reflected both in each individual member, and in their practices and routines.
This year, the captain of the team is Chiara Garcia, a junior who has been a member of the team for three years now. Chiara says that “this cheer season has been a bit stressful, but it has been a lot of fun. We’ve been taking things a little slow this year to build up our foundation to make sure that we’re prepared and safe.” Chiara has been cheering for five years now, and entering her senior year, will be one of the only twelfth graters that can still fly during routines.
Assistant captain, Lucy Berumen, sophomore, says that she’s looking forward to state and that, “[the team] is upping their elite stunts as well their dance and cheer routines.”
There is sometimes a negative stigma surrounding the world of competitive cheer. Hopefully, this continues to be disproven as time goes on. Coronado’s cheerleaders are some of the most elite, hardworking athletes the school has to offer, so be sure to stay tuned in the coming months and years, because this team is destined for greatness.