The Pahrump Valley Trojans Cheerleading Team has officially become a competition team as well as sideline cheer. Since they have never competed before, the team is very excited to start this year.
The head coach of the competition team, Marshira Nelson, has many goals and expectations for this season’s competition team. “Our goals are structured around excellence and growth,” Nelson stated. Personal development is also very important for the competition team. Competing enables each individual cheerleader to develop leadership skills, mental toughness, and a sense of team responsibility to carry after the season ends. Finishing with a low to zero deduction score, and securing a place by finishing in the top ten for our division are more goals wanted to achieve. This is the first time for this team to be competing and at each competition the team wants to consistently raise the bar for their score.
Now that the team is also competing, there are more practices added onto the schedule. With additional practices, Nelson stated, “It’s been a challenge but these athletes push through it all.” She also shared, “Now that comp season is here, we’ll implement a strategy called ‘Comp/Game Split’. Mondays, we start with warm-ups and then immediately go into full-out run-throughs of the competition routine, simulating the performance environment. The rest of practices will be for sideline cheer practicing new cheers, reviewing chants, and conditioning for game endurance.”
A member of the team, Sophia Hoffman, has shared how excited she is for the competitions. She said how she is somewhat nervous, but overall excited to try new and fun things. Hoffman stated, “The stunts have been harder, but the extra practices have not been too bad.” This is Hoffman’s first year not only on the competition team, but on the Pahrump Valley Trojans team. She has worked very hard and is excited about what opportunities it brings her.
The team is said to have the option to do six competitions but is registered for three so far: Spirit of the West on January 17th, PCS Championships on January 31st, and to hopefully go up north for the Northern Nevada Cheer & Dance Classic on February 7th.
Nelson does plan to stay a competition team as well as with sideline cheer. Nelson expressed, “Being a competition team provides a level of accountability, skill advancement, and motivation that we simply can’t achieve with sideline-only. The opportunity to challenge ourselves against the best and strive for a national title is essential for recruiting talented athletes in our community and push our program’s level of excellence forward every year.” The long-term goal for the team is to not only just stay a competition team, but to also become a known name at a national level.
Overall, the team has been working hard to start competing. Many are very excited to start competing and it is very important to the team to reach their goals.
