Cheerleaders encourage the sport by stunting, cheering, or dancing at halftime. They work hard throughout the season to learn the technical cheers and dances. While learning these skills, our Pahrump Valley High School cheerleaders dedicate themselves to building relationships with one another so they can promote strong school spirit and pride in our school community.
There are a couple of things that some cheerleaders and coaches find challenging about cheer. Melissa Glover is a freshman who finds learning dances in a short amount of time and stunting challenging. When stunting Glover is a back spot. She said,” My least favorite stunt is liberty extension because it hurts” and this makes sense because back spots ensure the safety of the flyer. They are the operators of the stunt and they determine the direction of the stunt with their strength. Also, Lily Davis, a sophomore, finds using her voice and staying positive when some people are upset challenging. When stunting Davis is a base; bases hold the flier in the stunt and try to keep them stable. Davis.said,” My least favorite stunt is the one I am flying in.” The coach, Marshira Nelson, also finds some things challenging about cheer such as seeking motivation and all the different personalities of each cheerleader.
There is a lot to love about cheer, but here is what they love the most: Glover loves to do the dances they are taught and she also loves to play cheer games. Glover’s favorite cheer is “Everybody Yell Yell Trojans”. She loves that cheer because the crowd engages with the cheerleaders during it. Davis shared:” I like all the bonds that are built”, and she loves all the relationships that are formed among all the cheerleaders. Davis loves to cheer Together again. Yell it, go fight win! Coach Nelson loves all the energy that is brought by all the cheerleader’s personalities and she also loves stunting. During football games, Glover and Davis love to do the half-time performance with the dancers. Coach Nelson loves all the crowd engagement during cheers and cheering on the football players. her favorite thing about coaching is all the personalities that come from each cheerleader.
Most cheerleaders have some things they don’t like. For example, Glover doesn’t like the cheer “Ah! Victory” during football games. She likes that we run to cheer on the football players when they score a touchdown, however, she doesn’t like that we have to do the fight songs right after because she said,” Doing the fight song takes my breath away”. During football games, Davis doesn’t like the poor communication on the lines between the cheerleaders because they are trying to get the cheer they are going to call passed down the line although it doesn’t get all the way around.
This season, Coach Nelson wants to accomplish organization so everything is not hard to find and has a place. She has been coaching for a good amount of time, and she plans on continuing that plan. Glover and Davis are going to try out next year as well. I’m excited to see how this season goes.
Most cheerleaders build a special bond as if they were sisters. They work hard to learn cheers and dances. The coaches enjoy teaching the cheerleaders and seeing them improve over time. If you enjoy going to football games; come support our cheerleaders and cheer with them.
