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Panther Prowler • Sept. 18, 2020

Virtual cheer jumps into the fall season

Allison Nguyen Staff Writer

With a spirited team ready for action and a group of new faces eager to join the fun, Newbury Park High School’s cheer team will not be letting the online school border ruin their season. From online workouts to weekly Zoom meetings, cheerleaders have been busy learning new jumps, tricks and dances to prepare for their next performance once they get back.

Sini Utermohlen, junior, has been a part of the NPHS cheer team for three years. Compared to past years, this fall semester has looked very di!erent training-wise. “We’ve just been having once a week practices over Zoom and then we also have three workouts that we do Monday through Wednesday...we just have to upload a time lapse workout,” Utermohlen said.

Learning di!erent workout routines and jumps online have de"nitely been a new learning factor for the team, but there are many social impacts that members have been missing since quarantine began. “#e main reason why I love cheer is just to be able to see friends and make new friends every year and have these funny experiences but like since we can’t really do that, it is what it is,” Utermohlen said.

With many new faces joining the team this year, it is harder for former members to get to know and bond with the new cheerleaders. #is is Carisa Kerby’s, sophomore, second year on the team a$er serving as freshmen captain the year before.

“#e hardest part [of not going back] is not being able to bond and practice with each other because although we can do like cheers and jumps and kicks and our technique and stu!, we can’t work on other things that are also super important for teamwork,” Kerby said. “Being in cheer to me means being...someone to look up to and being like a representation of our schools, and it also just means like a family to me.”

For the new cheerleaders this season, virtual practices and online bonding is an interesting way to start o! their high school journey. “It’s been a little strange you know, everything is virtual...I haven’t technically met all of them in person. I know some of them already...we actually started to reach out through group chats,” Jasmine Howard, freshman, says about her "rst experience with her team.

As a freshman starting her "rst year at Newbury Park High School, Howard is learning skills without seeing and being around her teammates has been a di!erent experience. “I don’t really have a lot of experience with it...unlike most of the cheerleaders. I haven’t done cheer for a lot of my life or dance or anything like that... but it seems really fun right now. And everyone’s like a family even though it’s over quarantine.”

Touchdown- Throwback to the 2019 football season, Sini Utermohlen, junior, and her teammates get into the EJGGTURKTKVURTGRRKPIHQTVJGKTWREQOKPIPWODGTQPVJGſGNFő+TGOGODGTKPGKIJVJITCFGVYQQHO[DGUVHTKGPFUhad been doing cheer for several years at that point and it sounded really fun, and I knew that I really wanted to be part of something when I joined high school,” Utermohlen said. Even virtually, these girls never put their hopes down when it comes to spirit. Sini Utermohlen/Prowler Surfers ride the waves through quarantine

Reese Kelem Chief Photographer

Surfs Up- Elizabeth Herman, junior, goes with her board to surf the SoCal waters. Herman and her family are FGFKECVGFVQUWTſPICPFUJGJCUDGGPUWTſPIGXGTUKPEGUJGOQXGFJGTGHTQOCTK\QPCő2TGVV[OWEJCNNO[OQPG[CPFCNNVKOGIQGUVQUWTſPICPFUEJQQNDWVOQUVN[UWTſPIŒ*GTOCPUCKF*GTOCPJCUDGGPIQKPIVQVJGbeach nearly everyday to improve her skills. Elizabeth Herman/With Permission

#e waters of Southern California stayed open (for the most part) for surfers to ride the waves all summer despite most sports being cancelled due to social distancing orders during the COVID-19 pandemic. #ough the sur"ng community is small in Newbury Park, there are a few students who have a huge passion for the sport. For Elizabeth Herman, junior, sur"ng is a passion that is in her blood. “[My mother] really supported me, especially when I was beginning and taught me the sur"ng community etiquette and that was really nice to get my way in there and make friends.” Both Herman’s mother and her grandmother are surfers, and her grandmother was the "rst woman to win a competition in Huntington Beach.

Although everyone had di!erent experiences learning how to ride the waves, many agree that the learning process is rather challenging. Raj Wei, senior, had the opportunity to learn sur"ng through John Abney, NPHS English teacher. “I never caught a wave. It took me about two years to catch a wave, so yeah it was really di%cult,” said Wei.

Once they started to get the hang of it, surfers like Chase Ricket, senior, loved to go out on the ocean as much as possible. “It was hard balancing on the board but I got this new board for Christmas from my dad one year and actually a$er that I picked it up pretty fast.” Ricket tries to go out with his friends or dad at least once a week and surfs around two to three hours per trip.

Although there were many downsides to the COVID-19 pandemic, the quarantine gave a new opportunity for surfers to go out and improve their skills. “#ere were still beaches in Ventura and Oxnard that were still open even when they were supposed to be shut down. Everyone worked together to "nd spots that were still open (during the closures)” Herman said. Herman goes to the beach nearly every day to surf for up to four hours. During this time, she believes she has improved immensely.

An overall experience these surfers have found is the beauty and serenity of being in the ocean. “Just being out in the water when the sun sets, it’s just so beautiful out there and the water is so nice. Just being out there with your friends is so much fun” said Wei.

Hang Ten- Elizabeth Herman, junior, waits for the perfect wave to surf. Herman has competed in one competition and plans to join more soon. “It was scary but it was a few years ago so it was just fun honestly,” *GTOCPUCKF*GTNQXGHQTUWTſPIKUKPƀWGPEGFD[JGTmother and grandmother who competed regularly in southern California. Elizabeth Herman/With Permission