By: Madison McCann
Cheerleading has always been a popular sport ever since it was created in 1898 by Jonny Campbell. But it first began as a male dominated sideline “sport” that few participated in. According to Business Insider today there are around 4.5 million cheerleaders in the world! The sport has also broken off into multiple branches high school sideline (most familiar, cheerleaders seen of the sidelines of sports such as basketball and football), high school competition, and all-star competitive cheerleading. My focus is how high school cheer divides a school cheer program.
In Georgia, high school cheer is governed by the Georgia High School Cheer Association (also known as GHSA). Founded in 1908, the association has amassed over 100 regions in Georgia, with many schools and teams in each. As we approach the middle of football season, and the start of competition, I wanted to take to the halls of Hillgrove High School (who placed 4th at state and 1st at region last season) to ask cheerleaders how they felt about their program.
Hillgrove High School has a varied cheer program including teams like game day, sideline, comp, crimson pride, etc. But the most well known squads are sideline and competition. My only question is what makes them different? Why do some choose to do one, both or none? Nikaya Stinson says, “It has been a lot fun being on both the varsity competition and football sideline team. I have made tons of new friends who don’t just speak to me at practice, but talk to me in class and in the hallways, and even wanting to hangout with me after practice at times. It wasn’t hard at all since now I have a lot of new people to showcase my personality to, and love on as the season continues.” The seasons do overlap and include McCann 2 practicing from June-November Monday-Thursday, with games on Fridays and competitions on Saturdays. This schedule sounds very hectic, Nikaya agrees, “this year is different since I am not doing all-star cheer anymore, but there are days when we’ve had hard practices and I fall asleep as soon I get home, forgetting to study and do my homework, but I make up for it by waking up early in the morning to have it all done before I come to school. Currently I have a nice high GPA but I obviously don’t want to get out of the habit of letting my tiredness get the best of me and causing me to fall academically.” The sport is demanding but based on their multiple wins including region champ, and school records set last season including a 105 and 4th at state! Their hard work pays off. Though I do wonder if there is another side, is everyone happy with the program? Kennedy Hightower who is also a senior states “I am no longer a cheerleader, The coaches were very blatant, but I had a lot of good/fun memories with both teams so maybe if they were different I would love to come back.” She also expressed that she enjoyed comp more as she was able to compete and show off her tumbling and stunting skills. Kennedy does strongly recommend trying out for cheer though saying “it’s very fun to be involved in a school sport, if you get lucky your team will get along and it will feel like a family and you will make great memories!” Clearly 2 different experiences, but this doesn’t define the program. It only means you must find your happy medium. “Yes I cheer, I am a sideline cheerleader, and I quit comp to focus on a academics, but I would recommend to try out comp and sidelines and see what fits them best!” from junior Kami Ragsdale. As we can see Hillgrove Cheer is a diverse program filled with many mixed reviews despite their victories. I leave you with this question, would you tryout?
Cheerleading has always been a popular sport ever since it was created in 1898 by Jonny Campbell. But it first began as a male dominated sideline “sport” that few participated in. According to Business Insider today there are around 4.5 million cheerleaders in the world! The sport has also broken off into multiple branches high school sideline (most familiar, cheerleaders seen of the sidelines of sports such as basketball and football), high school competition, and all-star competitive cheerleading. My focus is how high school cheer divides a school cheer program.
In Georgia, high school cheer is governed by the Georgia High School Cheer Association (also known as GHSA). Founded in 1908, the association has amassed over 100 regions in Georgia, with many schools and teams in each. As we approach the middle of football season, and the start of competition, I wanted to take to the halls of Hillgrove High School (who placed 4th at state and 1st at region last season) to ask cheerleaders how they felt about their program.
Hillgrove High School has a varied cheer program including teams like game day, sideline, comp, crimson pride, etc. But the most well known squads are sideline and competition. My only question is what makes them different? Why do some choose to do one, both or none? Nikaya Stinson says, “It has been a lot fun being on both the varsity competition and football sideline team. I have made tons of new friends who don’t just speak to me at practice, but talk to me in class and in the hallways, and even wanting to hangout with me after practice at times. It wasn’t hard at all since now I have a lot of new people to showcase my personality to, and love on as the season continues.” The seasons do overlap and include McCann 2 practicing from June-November Monday-Thursday, with games on Fridays and competitions on Saturdays. This schedule sounds very hectic, Nikaya agrees, “this year is different since I am not doing all-star cheer anymore, but there are days when we’ve had hard practices and I fall asleep as soon I get home, forgetting to study and do my homework, but I make up for it by waking up early in the morning to have it all done before I come to school. Currently I have a nice high GPA but I obviously don’t want to get out of the habit of letting my tiredness get the best of me and causing me to fall academically.” The sport is demanding but based on their multiple wins including region champ, and school records set last season including a 105 and 4th at state! Their hard work pays off. Though I do wonder if there is another side, is everyone happy with the program? Kennedy Hightower who is also a senior states “I am no longer a cheerleader, The coaches were very blatant, but I had a lot of good/fun memories with both teams so maybe if they were different I would love to come back.” She also expressed that she enjoyed comp more as she was able to compete and show off her tumbling and stunting skills. Kennedy does strongly recommend trying out for cheer though saying “it’s very fun to be involved in a school sport, if you get lucky your team will get along and it will feel like a family and you will make great memories!” Clearly 2 different experiences, but this doesn’t define the program. It only means you must find your happy medium. “Yes I cheer, I am a sideline cheerleader, and I quit comp to focus on a academics, but I would recommend to try out comp and sidelines and see what fits them best!” from junior Kami Ragsdale. As we can see Hillgrove Cheer is a diverse program filled with many mixed reviews despite their victories. I leave you with this question, would you tryout?
