It has come to my attention that not everyone knows cheer has an actual competition season. “I thought people just came to our football games and watched you and said ‘you’re good go to state’,” commented an anonymous football player.

That is definitely not how it works. Crazy enough, we are a real sport! We practice for around two hours for four days a week, and have strength and conditioning for 45 minutes twice a week. All of that, for a hobby?? I know, crazy.

As of today, with our current schedule, we have only four practices until state. The snow days took away two practice days, and the stress of the situation is starting to set in. Still, we are pretty prepared. Our season started in June, with a “non-mandatory” beginning summer season. Even with that label, everyone started showing up and getting ready for a season where we can redeem our title that was taken away with a 10-point deduction for a base “touching a sign” last year (dropping stunts are usually only two points, which is a much more dangerous issue than a base touching a sign). Ever since June, we have been ready.

With COVID, our competition season was always up in the air. However, it came through, and we got a date for state: March 25, 2021. And we plan to win it.

To go through how we practice, how we feel in the last weeks before state, and more, I will be documenting some “journal entries” and interviewing some of the other cheerleaders on the team. Let’s win this!

3/18/21: It’s full out time! After some minor injuries and colds, the entire team is back. This means stunting, screaming, facials, and sharp motions. Doing the entire routine, no marking or half-working. It’s been a while since we have had the whole team there for real full outs, so it was a little rough to jump in. However, after today’s practice, I am feeling extremely confident in the team, and my neck is a little sore from shoulder sits.

3/19/21: It’s Friday, which means strength and practice back to back. Today we did some more full outs, of course. I’m felling pretty tired, and I’m glad it’s a weekend now and we will have a quick break before the week of state. For state week, we are having a spirit week instead of our usual uniformed outfits. Monday will be M&M colors (freshman-blue, sophomores-yellow, juniors-green, seniors-red) and Tuesday will be twin day! Just a little something to make the stressful, tiring week a little exciting in the process.

3/22/21: Today was strength and practice again! After getting swole we all had some peanut butter and rolled right into practice in the commons. With only one day left after today, I am feeling pretty confident but still extremely nervous. We ran through the routine a lot, and it is definitely muscle memory, even with the new minor changes we have been adding. After today’s practice, junior Brooke Durland comments: “I feel like our team has been doing their best, and they have been putting lots of effort in this year. I feel prepared. I am very proud of my team!”

3/23/21: “I feel good but on the other hand I get nervous, we all want it so bad that it’s hard to get rid of the nerves,” comments junior Leah Fuller. We all feel good after this last practice, and as ready as we will ever be for this competition! The nerves are definitely there, but we have put in the work! Let’s take this trophy home!

3/25/21: State day! We felt really good after performing, and were just left to wait for the results. We found out we had zero deductions, and all had a little celebration because of how good that news was. Unfortunately, even with that fantastic news, we still did not make finals (the top nine) as we took 14th. Even though the outcome was not what we wanted, we are ready to do better next year!