Triumphs and challenges of Kearney High School cheerleading
KEARNEY, Mo. — High school cheerleading often goes unnoticed in terms of school sports. It is often believed that cheer isn’t a real sport and that there isn’t a lot of work that goes into cheer as a whole despite the physical demand that is required. Cheerleaders foster a sense of school spirit while performing at the assemblies, football games, and basketball games. The hard work and dedication that goes into this often goes unnoticed. The strength needed to lift a person or be a powerful tumbler isn’t usually considered when people say cheerleading isn’t a sport.
Cheer teams also do more outside of cheering for the football and basketball teams. The Kearney varsity cheerleading team went to regionals and placed second, only 0.3 points behind first. This success continued at state where they placed second in their division. The cheerleaders perform at pep rallies and compete in cheer competitions. This takes a lot of work to do. They also go to the elementary schools during homecoming to get the kids excited as well.
The cheer team has also recently acquired new coaches. Coach Schmetz is the new head coach for the varsity cheer team, and Coach LaFollette is the assistant coach. Coach LaFollette has had some experience as an athlete in cheer and coaching cheer, but this is her first year coaching at Kearney. Coach LaFollette commented on this year: “This whole year has been pretty rewarding because she saw the potential in the girls just from the sidelines.”
A lot of work goes into preparing for not only football and basketball games but state as well. The team practices almost every day for hours at a time. The team has had some difficulties with their routines, but they have worked through them. A Kearney cheerleader, Sydney Shipley, says, “I believe that we need to work as a family, and we need to have a strong bond to make that work.” Coach Schmetz and Coach LaFollette believe that repetition is one of the keys to success in stunts. Coach Schmetz stated, “If you hit it one or two times, that’s luck, but if you hit it three times, that’s skill.”
High school cheerleading takes more work than most people give the sport credit for. The cheer team does its best to put in the effort to lift the crowd’s spirits at football and basketball games. It has been difficult for the girls to transition from their old coaches to new ones, but they have been putting in the effort and have been making the best of not only their situation but the new coaches’ insight.
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