Just like that, another season has just ended! Even though saying goodbye is hard, it’s time for a new start! The seventh and eighth-grade cheerleaders are excited for our new journey. Whether it’s basketball season or moving to high school, we are moving forward– individually or as a squad. From tryouts in the spring to present day,  everyone has improved so much. There have been so many events and activities that we participated in, and cheering in a game is only a small part!

April 24-28th  was the week of cheer clinics. Clinics are where all the girls who are interested in trying out practice the dance and cheers. The first day was a little stressful, but the girls got the hang of it. Within time, tryouts rolled by fast. The day of tryouts was hectic! From girls running, practicing, and getting ready, it was really chaotic and stressful. But before long, tryouts started. You get assigned with another girl in your grade and do the routines with them. With what felt like forever, we waited for the results. Chaos ensued again when we found out later who exactly made it. We hugged, cried tears of happiness, and dreamed of when this would all start. 

First, we started with camp which consisted of two days in June. And the high schoolers were with us too! This was helpful and intimidating at the same time.  All the girls learned a new band dance, our halftime dance, and a few cheers. Cheertime Athletics taught us all the routines and oversaw all the activities for these couple of days. We learned from the high cheerleaders and competed against them as well. Individual awards were given by Cheertime Athletics and some other fun presents were distributed too.

Phew! Camp was over, but we had more coming. Practices were just getting started the Friday after camp! We spent Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays during the summer. We started off learning and reaching the basic cheers. And chants. The way we practiced and learned them was honestly fun and got it done quickly. The senior cheerleaders or varsity would show us the cheer and we would learn them and go over the words as a whole, then we would split up into groups and break it down more. My group, (Olivia Arnaut) had two of my favorite seniors helping me and a couple of my friends with the cheers. I want to thank Kennedy Barrell and Leah Sumpter for helping me with the cheers all summer long and helping me overcome my fear of calling the cheers. Splitting up into groups and breaking the cheers down really helped me a lot this summer, and I am even more excited to help the upcoming seventh graders with cheers too! Being on the cheer squad requires a lot of commitment. You are basically giving up most if not all of your summer. Practice started from the beginning of June and lasted until the middle of August.

Now, being a cheerleader isn’t just about cheering on the sidelines; we also have some pretty cool annual events to represent ourselves as cheerleaders for Niles City Schools.  Certain occasions were definitely more nerve-racking, but we got through them. First,  we had the one and only 4th of July Parade!  It was terribly hot, but it should be in July. Isn’t that what summer is all about? Next, we had an exciting day at one of our practices. It was called “Bring anything but a water bottle day!” All the girls had some creative ideas. For example, Kaelee Housman brought a toilet, crazy right? We also had some winners, and they got Dunkin gift cards. We also had the most incredible spirit week. We had some fun days like, dress as your favorite Taylor Swift album; everyone enjoyed that one! We also had an  Adam Sandler Day and everyone dressed up and we had an amazing time!

 Here comes the fun! During the summer we also had Dragon Day! It was hot again but it really got us in the mood for football to start! Finally, we had the Annual Sausage Fry. This event brings both the high school and middle school football family together.  We performed at Waddell Park and had a blast. But our fun wasn’t just events, we love to support the football team! The day before the games; we would have team dinner. They had delicious food that the football moms would prepare for us. The football moms even made us t-shirts and hoodies. On the first and last team dinner, we even decorated the locker room shed for the boys

 We asked a seventh-grade cheerleader Brielle Henry some questions about cheer. The first question we asked was,

1.  How have you improved from tryouts to now: I take things a lot more seriously and my motions have gotten tighter and stronger. 
2. What was your favorite memory from the season: My favorite memory this year was during the home game against Struthers before the third quarter after halftime me, Olivia, and Arianna got told that if we wanted to get food we would have to run and we would get benched if we didn’t make it back in time. We ran as fast as we ever could through the football players and looked crazy! When we came back we were completely worn out and tired! 
3. Why did you choose to try out: I chose to try out to open new opportunities for myself, to make new friends, and to try something new. 

All in all, cheerleading isn’t just about wearing pretty uniforms and yelling with no one paying attention. Come on…we all know that is what most are thinking!  It is also about the bond we girls share and the amount of fun we had this season! We are always ready to support our team and more importantly we love the fact that we are young ladies ready to be positive role models to the younger little girls who smile as soon as they see us. That is what makes cheer worth every minute!