Homecoming is both one of the most fun weeks of school and one of the most stressful. While students are dressing up every day and waiting for the iconic football game and dance, our McClatchy High School cheerleaders are spending their entire week preparing a routine for us.
In one week, they have to master multiple dances, new stunts, and new workouts.
Maddy Cummins, “backspot” and new cheerleader, said, “Cheer practice has been very stressful because the coaches are changing up the whole routine and we have to learn it and get it right in less than a week.”
The cheerleaders have practice from 5:15pm to 7:15pm from Tuesday to Thursday. They only have 6 hours to get their routine down so they can impress everyone at the rally and football game and outdo the opposing team, Dixon. They only have two hours a day to make sure everyone in the stunts know what they are doing and have no risk of getting seriously injured.
Because of how dangerous cheer is, they had to cut out a new stunt they were working on. Maddy said,” We are trying out a new stunt called ‘ The Pinwheel’ but people keep falling so the chances of that being in the routine are slim.” She also went on about how they tried modifying it but nothing seemed to work.
Many of the cheerleaders had doubts about them succeeding their routine. Ashley Munguia, returning cheerleader and “base,” was very stressed about their routine and the stunts that she was trying out with the new flyer she’s working with. Other athletes on the team shared her anxiety. When asked how she feels about the rally, Ariel Pichardo said, “I feel fine but also nervous because I don’t want anyone getting hurt.”
The day of the Homecoming rally and football game came very quickly, and the cheerleaders did an amazing job. They hit every stunt, and not one person got hurt. Their pyramids and extreme stunts were very amusing and left many students in shock. They all did the dance with perfect timing and they couldn’t have looked more confident.
Although they had a strong showing with the rally routine, they were still nervous about the halftime routine. The halftime routine was almost the same but had a different opening. They changed a stunt to a more extreme stunt that couldn’t be safely executed on the gym’s wooden floor. They did wonderful baskets, and, just like the rally routine, no one fell or messed up.
“Preparing for Homecoming week is very stressful and a lot of hard work, but once you do the routine perfectly and see everyones proud and amused faces, you realize it was all worth it,” said the C.K McClatchy Cheerleaders.