Basketball Cheer Going Virtual
Nathalia Davison
This year Hillgrove High School’s Junior Varsity and Varsity basketball cheer tryouts will be on October 24, 2020. The application to tryout can be found on the Hillgrove cheer website along with the tryout material. The application is due on October 19, 2020. Due to Coronavirus, tryouts will be held virtually, like Football cheer tryouts.
This year the tryout material was put out on October 3, 2020. The material for tryouts includes a cheer, chant, and dance. “I would say that this year's tryout material is about the same difficulty as past years have been except for the dance. I would say the dance is a little more difficult than previous years,” says Junior Varsity Competition cheerleader at Hillgrove, London Davidson. Zada Carmichael, Junior Varsity Football cheerleader at Hillgrove, agrees saying, “I think the dance is the hardest because it’s hard to get in on beat without rushing it and still have it looking sharp.” Learning the material is only one part of the tryout process.
During tryouts coaches look for a variety of things. Davidson continues, “The coach[s] will most likely be looking at how sharp your motions are, if you have rhythm, and the volume of your voice.” The volume of your voice and your motions are definitely something cheerleaders should keep in mind, especially with virtual tryouts being individual instead of being placed into groups. “I would prefer in person tryouts because I think it’s a lot easier to do your tryout with multiple people and it’s easier to know what you’re doing,” Carmichael continues. Another thing coaches will be taking into consideration are grades. “We believe very strongly that you are student athletes and the student comes before the athlete. So we factor GPA as one of our categories when we are scoring individuals that want to try out for the squad,” Coach Curran, JV Basketball Cheer Coach and Freshman Football Cheer Coach, says.
This year is a very difficult year for Basketball cheer because of coronavirus. “We are trying to keep it as small as possible for many reasons. I mean, we have a lot more flexibility with football because, of course, it’s outside [and] we have a lot more space. [But with] basketball we actually are restricted by GHSA how many girls we can take. [For] Varsity, like we, there is not a possibility for taking more than eighteen girls. So that is our absolute max,” Curran continues. Coronavirus has restricted many things due to social distancing, masks, and much more, but at least Hillgrove is having a Basketball season!
Tryouts are coming soon, and Hillgrove will soon see who their 2020-2021 Junior Varsity and Varsity Basketball Cheerleaders are. For anyone trying out, just remember: have fun, stay sharp, be loud, and smile! Make the best out of tryouts and always come out to support your Hillgrove Hawks.
This year the tryout material was put out on October 3, 2020. The material for tryouts includes a cheer, chant, and dance. “I would say that this year's tryout material is about the same difficulty as past years have been except for the dance. I would say the dance is a little more difficult than previous years,” says Junior Varsity Competition cheerleader at Hillgrove, London Davidson. Zada Carmichael, Junior Varsity Football cheerleader at Hillgrove, agrees saying, “I think the dance is the hardest because it’s hard to get in on beat without rushing it and still have it looking sharp.” Learning the material is only one part of the tryout process.
During tryouts coaches look for a variety of things. Davidson continues, “The coach[s] will most likely be looking at how sharp your motions are, if you have rhythm, and the volume of your voice.” The volume of your voice and your motions are definitely something cheerleaders should keep in mind, especially with virtual tryouts being individual instead of being placed into groups. “I would prefer in person tryouts because I think it’s a lot easier to do your tryout with multiple people and it’s easier to know what you’re doing,” Carmichael continues. Another thing coaches will be taking into consideration are grades. “We believe very strongly that you are student athletes and the student comes before the athlete. So we factor GPA as one of our categories when we are scoring individuals that want to try out for the squad,” Coach Curran, JV Basketball Cheer Coach and Freshman Football Cheer Coach, says.
This year is a very difficult year for Basketball cheer because of coronavirus. “We are trying to keep it as small as possible for many reasons. I mean, we have a lot more flexibility with football because, of course, it’s outside [and] we have a lot more space. [But with] basketball we actually are restricted by GHSA how many girls we can take. [For] Varsity, like we, there is not a possibility for taking more than eighteen girls. So that is our absolute max,” Curran continues. Coronavirus has restricted many things due to social distancing, masks, and much more, but at least Hillgrove is having a Basketball season!
Tryouts are coming soon, and Hillgrove will soon see who their 2020-2021 Junior Varsity and Varsity Basketball Cheerleaders are. For anyone trying out, just remember: have fun, stay sharp, be loud, and smile! Make the best out of tryouts and always come out to support your Hillgrove Hawks.
