Cheerleaders Are More Than Meets The Eye

By Jayde-Rhiannon Jackson, Photo Editor

They work hard during practices to pump up the crowd during each game.

They may look like just pretty faces, but cheerleaders are more than what they seem.

Every week, the cheerleaders face a new challenge and obstacle they have to overcome. They have to re-block cheers and face their game based off of what happens during each past game. Each cheer must look well put together.

Senior Rebecca Woods is the cheer captain for the varsity cheer squad at Susquehannock and helps everyone fix the mistakes they made.

“In the beginning of the week, we go through all the stuff we thought went wrong with the last game,” said Woods.

After they figure out those mistakes, the cheerleaders fix them and see what they could do better. They put in a lot more work than anyone would think.

 Stunting, big cheers, side lines and smiling are very big parts of the game. If they don’t smile, it won’t set off a positive vibe for the crowd.

The cheerleaders also take the time to learn the cheers every week throughout the whole season. Most of their cheers take at least thirty minutes to learn, and the longer ones take about forty-five. They can also have up to about sixty cheers per game.

Senior Rebecca Woods and senior Kate Burgess are the cheer captains of the varsity cheer squad, and the two have a stressful job.

“Well, it is very stressful to be captain, and when something goes on, people always look to you. So if it is something good, they look to you, if it is something bad, they look to you,” said Burgess.

After a game, they both feel pretty good about their performance, even if they know the team messed up a sideline or cheer.

Stereotyping is common in this sport, whether the comments are coming from their friends or from classmates.

“A lot of times we get told that it’s like we are dumb, but people don’t really see all the work that is put into it too,” said Burgess.

Cheerleaders want to be seen as athletes, just like anyone else in any other sport.