Competitive side to cheerleading

photo courtesy of Rachel Sawyer

NCA cheer team Front row: Kaila Muhammad, Ashley Vega, Kendyl Murray, Averi Chapman, Bailee Lollar Second row: Ava Staten, Victoria Jaramillo, Chasry Supelana, Peyton Brown, Elena Arteaga, Gabby Jones, Claire White, Taylor Wilson Back row: Chloe Crowley, Makenna Rowan, Hannah Witty, Avery Newman, Annsley Creel, Baylie McCurry, Taylor Sampson, Malani Hill, Mckenna Divelbiss, Shelby Campbell, Jaycie Rowland, Kendyl McSwain

Taylor Sampson, Staff Writer
January 28, 2022

UIL cheer team
Front row: Olivia Blesi-Blalock, Bailee Lollar, Hannah Bergstrom, Kaila Muhammad, Ashley Vega, Daisy Nowlin, Kendyl Murray
Middle row: Sadie Sampson, Taylor Sampson, Kennedy Harris, Elena Arteaga, Lexi Oehlke, Alexa Chavez, Peyton Brown, Izzy Lopez, Victoria Jaramillo
Back row: Hailey Cruz, Jacy Wicke, Kameryn Gilson, Rachel Coleman, Malaika Koroma, Baylie McCurry, Chloe Crowley, Jordan Thomas, Addison McDonald

Most people think cheerleading is just cheering on the sidelines of a game, but there is a competitive side to it.

The NCA cheer team competed on Jan. 22 and the UIL cheer team competed on Jan. 15.

The NCA team is a competitive cheerleading team that competes like an all star cheer team. The UIL team is a separate team that performs routines you would see at pep rallies.

The UIL routine consists of stunts, a cheer, a band dance and the school’s fight song. The judges look for motion technique, voice projection, synchronization and difficulty level.

“Even though we did not win, we all went out and did our very best,” freshman cheerleader Chloe Crowley said.

The UIL team placed in the 50’s for their division.

“We have worked really hard to be in sync and pay attention to everyone around us,” Crowley said.

Being in sync at a competition is crucial to getting a good score. The timing of when the bases throw the flyers makes the flyers be in sync.

JV cheerleader Baylie McCurry said stunting is difficult and took a lot of preparation.

“Practicing takes lots of dedication and focus,” McCurry said. “You have to show up to every practice in order to get the routine down.”

Practices consist of running through the routine over and over.

“It’s challenging for everyone to try their best and keep our spirit up the entire practice,” varsity cheerleader Elena Arteaga said.

“I’m really proud of what we have done this year,” she said. “There’s always room for improvement but we tried our very best.”

The NCA team placed sixth out of seven teams.

“We did good but compared to the other teams, we could’ve been better,” JV cheerleader Mckenna Divelbiss said. “The most important thing for us is to not drop our stunts or bust our tumbling.”

When a stunt falls or a tumbling pass busts, a .75 or 1 point deduction is taken off of the score. The routine is judged on difficulty and cleanliness of each section, then deductions are taken off of the raw score.
“Competition cheer is hard,” Divelbiss said. “I wish people could see the work we put in.”