The spectators rose with a thunder of applause as the CCHS competitive cheerleaders held the end formation of their final routine at the Cheerleading Spirit Championship on February 14. Their bodies were frozen with anxiety as they watched the judges score their performance. They knew they had conquered Coral Glades, their biggest rival, and fought back every doubt in their minds of losing. Time seemed to stand still as they sat in anticipation waiting to hear the final results. The judges announced the scores, “First place goes to....Cooper City High!” Pride instantly surged through their veins as the reflection of their hard work and practice had shone. A few years ago, competitive cheerleading at CCHS was put to a halt due to a lack of interested girls. As excited cheerleaders became aware of the competitive cheerleading opportunity, girls were signing up left and right. A squad large enough for competitions had formed and CCHS finally had their own competitive cheerleading team. This year’s team is better than ever before as they practice hard and compete with pride. “Competitive cheerleading is not average cheering where all we do is shout,” senior Chelsea Moore said, “it’s competing on a totally different level.” Football and basketball cheerleading consist of girls who like to scream and shout, looking to have a good time on the sidelines while cheering for the boys’ teams. Competitive cheering is the complete opposite. These girls compete at a high level at which they must always maintain their focus and skill. They work hard to achieve their much-deserved attention whereas average cheerleaders direct the spotlight towards the football or basketball players. “We find competitive cheer to be more exciting because it lets us be the center of attention for a change,” senior Danielle Cherrnay said.
These girls work for their spotlight and prove their worth. They have more than just skill and talent to set them above average cheerers, most of them have several years of experience under their belts. “I want to incorporate as many different techniques and tumbling as we can into our routine while showing off our skill,” senior Lauren Olesky said. Because of Olesky’s many years of experience in cheerleading technique and performance, she and senior Toni Megna have been appointed as captains of this year’s competitive cheer team. The two captains have led their girls to victory this season, gathering several wins and many bragging rights. “Out of our four competitions so far, we have won two first places, a second, and a third place,” Moore said. Their star performances are all due to the hard work and commitment that takes shape in each and every practice. “We’ve been working really hard and because of that we are increasingly getting better and better,” Cherrnay said. These girls might be rare gems, but they still have to work hard for their polished perfections. Just like every other sports team, they do have their disadvantages and struggles, such as attendance and participation in multiple teams. “Some girls are involved with other cheer teams that have higher priority than this team, so it’s difficult to practice our routine without every member being present,” Olesky said. Luckily, these things never have enough potential to set the competitive cheerleaders back because, as always, they are prepared to accept and conquer any hardship that comes their way.
With much anticipation and high hopes, the CCHS competitive cheerleaders won’t let anything or anyone get in their way of winning the gold. The hardworking, dedicated CCHS competitive cheerleaders tumble and cheer to win big in their first year back.