Give a cheer for school spirit: Cheer team welcomes improvements

Give a cheer for school spirit:  Cheer team welcomes improvements

Ava Calderon, Staff Writer, The Standard

It’s just another Friday night. The football team striving for that next touchdown, the fans cheering in the stands, and dead center: the cheerleaders. Though they still wear the same uniform, and bear the blue and white pompoms, you can’t help notice there’s something different about them this year. Why is this, you ask?

This year the cheer team underwent a complete renovation. A new head coach, assistant coach, and captain were put into place, all of whom share major experience, and a passion for the sport.

“It’s just a good vibe every practice, it’s my happy place. I love coming here […] I’m really excited for everything that’s going on,” assistant coach Solene Flores said.

New head coach Rachel Kay has a background in professional dance and choreography as well as cheer, and is incorporating much more dance into the team’s routines. Kay, Flores, and Captain Liza Gill (’19) have many new goals for this season.

“My main goal is to clean up the reputation of the cheer team in general, and definitely make it an activity people want to participate in. Squad goals would be to be as clean and as sharp as possible, to be as flexible as possible, and to get really good jumps,” Kay said.

The coaches have brought in new resources, including boxes, rainbow pompoms, practice apparel, a new practice schedule, and performance material.

“The atmosphere is wonderful, the vibe is great, I look forward to coming to practice. I am so incredibly happy here it makes me a little emotional,” Kay said.

Aside from new equipment, there are many new girls on the team. More gymnasts, dancers, and experienced cheerleaders have joined the team, introducing a whole new level of quality. Though no experience is needed to join the team, these new additions bring forth much anticipation.

“Honestly it’s so fun. You can tell if you ever come to games or practice, we’re just having a ball. We’re always laughing and smiling. There’s never a boring moment,” Gill said.