When Reeths-Puffer football fans see the cheerleaders on the sidelines at the first varsity game this Thursday, some will probably assume they’re just doing what cheerleaders have always done – getting everyone fired up to root on the football team.
They will be doing that, of course, but there's a lot more to it, particularly at R-P, where the cheerleading program has reached an elite level in statewide competition.
The Rocket cheerleaders are in training for the competitive cheer season, which begins in November. And the beginning of the football season is hardly the beginning of that training.
The R-P team has been practicing several days per week since June, and the intensity of their workouts will only increase as the school year goes by.
The R-P competitive cheer team gathers at the state finals last season.
“This has evolved from something that was mainly a sideline activity to a sport that is very intense,” said Brittany Moore, who coaches the competitive cheer squad during the fall “sideline season."
When the regular season rolls around in November, the cheer squad will have a full schedule of competition against other schools and will compete in the statewide postseason tournament.
Last season was huge for the R-P competitive cheer squad. The Rockets won the first district championship in program history, placed third at regionals and took seventh in the state finals.
They had to make the top four at regionals to qualify for state, and the Rockets were pumped when they heard they made the cut.
“Last year we worked so hard, and we were district champions for the first time, which was huge,” said R-P senior cheerleader Makenna Anthony. “At state, when they called out the fifth-place team and it wasn’t us, we knew we made it! Everything we put into the season was paying off!”
Only eight teams qualified for state, and those eight were rewarded by being invited to participate in a special one-day North American Spirit Pro-Stunt Camp at Plymouth High School last Wednesday. The best part was that the camp instructor was Lance Stoltenberg, the U.S. Olympic cheer coach.
The girls spent six straight hours doing stunt drills while getting instruction from the Olympic expert.
“It was awesome,” Moore said. “The girls learned so much, not necessarily about things they have never seen before, but about the ability to do stunts with more technique.”
The Rockets have high hopes of getting back to the state finals this year, mostly because they have 20 girls back from last year on the 26-member team.
“Our goal is to place above seventh at state this year,” Moore said. “In order to have any chance to compete at the state level, it requires the entire sideline season to be spent building up."
While cheerleading has definitely changed over the years, most of the R-P girls still enjoy the old- fashioned part, as well – performing on the sidelines during games and rooting on the football Rockets.
Sideline activity is not required for Reeths-Puffer cheerleaders, but most still do it.
“That’s what I fell in love with when I first started cheering,” Anthony said. “It’s about being able to interact with the crowd, parents and friends, and everyone coming together as a community.”
2022 REETHS-PUFFER SIDELINE CHEERLEADERS
Alexis Willis, Addy Smith, Addison Smith, Carly Weinrick, Addison Eek, Brookelyn Rought, Bre Smith, Ava Marshall, Ella Hardy, Destinee Amos, Deon Saucedo, Chloe Stephenson, Gabby Borgeson, Jeya Lee, Kendall Eek, Launa Tangney, Sydney Williams, Shai Nelson, Patience Sims, Melana Johnson, Makenna Anthony, Madilynn Smith, Madilyn Alvarado, Macy Rudholm, Macy Fisher, Erika Rudholm