Get to know Chino Hills cheerleader Brooke Tarango
CHINO HILLS, Calif. — Meet one of Chino Hills’ finest cheerleaders, Brooke Tarango, (15) a sophomore at Chino Hills High School. Brooke has spent the last eight years sharpening her technique, and because of her hard work is now a member of both the Varsity team at CHHS and the California All Stars. While having already accomplished many impressive achievements at such a young age, Brooke has her sights set on bigger and more challenging goals down the road.
The most immediate of these goals being to make a “Worlds” team and win the Worlds championship. This is the highest level of competition in the cheer world, and a majority of cheerleaders do not have the opportunity to compete for such high prestige. Also, when the time comes, Brooke has aspirations to cheer at the collegiate level. “When I graduate high school, I plan on continuing my cheerleading on a division 1 college team; I have a few I’m already looking at. My ultimate goal for college is to be in New York and continue studying fashion design.”
In order to accomplish these goals however, there is a fair amount of adversity that needs to be overcome. When asked what the biggest challenge is in cheer, Brooke responded, “My biggest challenge in this sport is comparing myself to others. It can be very frustrating when you give your all at every practice, privates, and I see someone get a new skill before I do when I’ve been working so hard and for a few it comes more easily. That’s the nature of tumbling when the skills get more complicated.” As an example of this challenge she added, “This summer I worked so hard to get my full. A full is a tumbling pass where you twist in the air with your legs straight. For some reason, I was having a lot of trouble with the twist part and that became very frustrating, not being able to correct my mistake right away after my coach gives me my correction. I’m very technical and I am very coachable, but I just couldn’t get it right away. And to see my two closest friends on my team get it while I was still struggling made it worse because tumbling can be mental and I started to get in my head about it.” Brooke was able to persevere through that frustrating period and eventually learn the skill, while also taking away some valuable lessons for the sport in general.
Although battling through adversity can be very beneficial, the reason for falling in love with a sport is just as important. For Brooke, that reason is, “I love this sport because of the intense competitive nature. The amount of practice we put in to compete at the level we do, and to be part of the best organization takes dedication with nothing less than your best kind of attitude. There’s no better feeling I get when I hit the mat with my teammates at a competition and hit that perfect routine.”
Outside of cheer, Brooke is described as a genuine, authentic and hard-working person who is always there for her friends. Her favorite snack foods are, mini-Oreos, fruit snacks, and granola bars and her favorite song to prepare for a competition is “4 Life” by Nicki Minaj and Drake. When she has spare time outside of school and cheer, Brooke enjoys spending time with friends, playing the piano, and making clothes. “Sewing is something I’ve always been good at and love the creativity it allows me. Ever since I was little, I’ve always wanted to be a fashion designer and that’s never changed.”
We wish Brooke the best of luck as she continues to work hard and compete throughout high school and beyond.
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