Cheerleading Legacy

By Max Homann

Cross Upper School’s Addy Lepper is the perfect fangirl when it comes to her grandmother’s cheer career. When the Philadelphia Eagles established a cheer team in 1966, grandmother Marianne Carmody was encouraged to try out by her high school ballet teacher and joined the squad of 50 female volunteers. Almost 60 years later, Addy follows this family connection by cheering on the Cross School’s basketball cheer team.

NFL cheer was just beginning, the only other cheer team Mrs. Carmody recalls is the famed Cowboy cheerleaders. Cheerleading was nothing like it is today, and she fondly remembers drill formations and marches in unison, led by the band, on the University of Pennsylvania’s Franklin Field.

Traveling to local competitions in the New York and D.C. areas was a highlight as were the friendships developed at socials and dances.

Addy’s decision to join the Cross basketball cheer team is inspired by her grandmother’s story and an excitement to continue the legacy. She explains, “My grandmother inspired me by showing me that if I try my hardest I will succeed.” Looking back at old photographs of Mrs. Carmody, resplendent in her cheer uniform, Addy observes what a trailblazer her grandmother became for the family. While Mrs. Carmody may have taken cheerleading in her stride, she is the perfect role model for her granddaughter, Addy. This unspoken connection serves as a touching example of a granddaughter’s intergenerational compliment to her grandmother.