Cheer is a big commitment; it’s difficult for CJHS Freshman cheerleaders to keep up with their school work, but they manage to do it.
Cheer is a lot of work. The cheerleaders have busy schedules: football games on Thursdays representing their home team, the Clarkston Wolves, comp season from December to February, and practices 4 times a week; there’s not a lot of time for school work.
“I balance school work with cheer by doing my homework before cheer practices and after I finish it up,” said CJHS 9th grader Madelyn Swanson.
Cheer is a sport that requires confidence, focus, team spirit, determination, and passion. Swanson is passionate about her sport and has been cheering for 9 years. She moved to Clarkston Cheer after coming from an all-star gym. Swanson loves Clarkston cheer, the team, the spirit, and the excitement the cheerleaders bring to the football games.
Cheer is also a sport recommended by 9th graders Violet Rawlings and Imanee Elmer. Cheerleaders love sideline cheer and also competitions. They love the excitement and nervousness all at once. When they’re on the stage performing their stunts and flips, it’s all they can think about. It’s all that really matters in the moment. Like a weight lifted off their shoulders, they bring school spirit when they step onto the sideline, cheering for the football team.
Some of the hardest things about cheer are remembering all of the 66 cheers.
“Some of the struggles of cheering is getting my motions down correctly and remembering all of my cheers, also when we do stunting, it’s sometimes hard to get it down and coordinate with other people,” said Swanson.
Cheer is recommended by Rawlings and Elmer.
“I would recommend it because it’s a fun sport, it gets you out of the house, it gets you out of your head, all you can think about is cheers, stunting, and tumbling. It’s a very rewarding sport when you get a new skill, it feels very good, and it’s very different from other sports,” said Elmer.
Staying in shape is also difficult for a cheerleader.
“I stay in shape for cheer by maintaining a healthy diet and conditioning outside of practice,” said Rawlings.
Overall, cheerleading is an amazing sport that requires dedication.
