It is a home game day; early in the morning, the cheerleaders are perfecting their chants that will be heard all around Ed Burke Field. They begin to rally up the student body for the football game by representing school spirit in their uniforms.
“I wake up, and I’ll put on whatever our outfit representative sends out to wear,” Gabby Drapeau (12), a varsity cheer member, said. “We know on game days we wear the full uniform.”
Soon, the girls arrive at their 6:30 a.m. practice to prepare for their performance later that evening. They make their way to room 97, right outside the stadium’s main entrance. After having an early morning conversation with a latte in hand, the cheerleaders start warming up for practice.
(Christopher Bacon)
“We usually get started with stretching and kicks,” Sabrina Svenson, the assistant coach of varsity cheer, said. “Right now, we are prepping for our big homecoming performance. It’s our biggest performance of the year, especially with football season, so a lot of blood, sweat and tears are going into that.”
Ava He-Schneck (12) and Chiara Bauer (12) lead the warm-up by stretching and doing their traditional jumping jacks.
Following stretching, they review their choreography to perfect their performances. Then, they move forward with their day after practice, going through their regular school schedule. After the last bell, they make their way back to the field.
“After school, we just spend time getting ready with each other for the game,” Hailey Diorio (11), a varsity cheer member, said.
The girls finish their makeup, hair and add spirit wear like eyeblack before heading down to the field.
“We set up our boxes, but [we] normally have like 5-10 minutes to chill and then we do warm-ups,” Freedom Azizi (10), a varsity cheer member, said. “We do [jumping jacks] and our typical stretches, [then] we [practice our] two dances.”
(Christopher Bacon)
The “boxes,” as Azizi described, are the designated crates that the girls use to stand on during the game to give them height so all sections of the bleachers can see and hear them. They are decorated with the cheerleader’s name, and they also serve as storage for water, extra clothes and other supplies.
When the game begins, the girls are constantly cheering on the sidelines. Whether or not the Falcons on the field are winning or losing, the cheerleaders keep spirits high, chanting and doing their pom choreography.
Due to weather constraints on Oct. 10, the girls could not showcase their halftime performance. However, they still performed on the sidelines.
At this time of year, the team is planning and rehearsing their homecoming performance, which will be their biggest event of the year. Although they were unable to perform halftime, cheer continued on, keeping spirits high on the sidelines, eventually leading the football players to victory by the end of the game.
“Post game, [we] rush over to the cheer room to set [our] boxes back in there,” Svenson said. “Then, the weekend starts.”
On weekends, team members take a post-game-day opportunity to bond and spend time with one another.
“Normally, my friends and I will go to In-N-Out,” Drapeau said. “[We discuss] the game and then we’ll all either have a sleepover or we’ll just go home.”
