By DEB BENTLY
Staff Writer
“Our goal is to win our fourth state championship in a row, and then advance as far as we can at the national competition in February,” says NRHEG Competition Cheer coach Joni Churchill.
The 13-member varsity competition cheer squad has been practicing its high-energy performance since last July, according to Churchill.
“These are tough kids,” she says of the team. “They’ve put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into perfecting this routine.”
Competition cheer teams are expected to create and perform a routine which lasts 2 minutes, 30 seconds. Within that time limit, they are required to include a cheer which lasts about 1 minute. Also required, along with traditional jumps and dance moves, are “small group” stunts and a pyramid. And, oh, they are expected to make it look easy–and never, ever to look like they’re tired.
“We get points taken off if the judges think we look tired,” comments one team member.
The term “individual stunts,” coaches explain, really means that the full team must break into small groups, each of which must then perform the same, difficult moves. In the case of the NRHEG routine, each of three groups lifts its “flyer” into the air and spins her around.
The varsity cheer squad is scheduled to give a public performance during the home basketball game on January 16. The middle school competition squad will perform on January 11. The cheer teams will be offering a “winter cheer camp” for elementary students during January; camp participants will present their routine on February 6.
The steps to advancing to state and national competition are quite different for cheer teams than for a typical sports team, Churchill clarifies. The group qualified to attend the National High School Cheerleading Championship set for Feb. 10 and 11 in Orlando, Florida, by meeting preliminary requirements and by being ranked highly enough at an October 28 regional competition held at Minnetonka High School.
State competition will be January 27 in the Twin Cities. NRHEG will present its routine in the first round and be ranked against other competitors in the same class. If their rankings on the first performance qualify them, they will perform a second time in the finals round.
Churchill expects the “Small Varsity” level of competition–for teams with 15 or fewer members–will be one of the largest divisions. A Small Varsity team can come from a district of any size. “We’re the only small school in our division,” Churchill observes, mentioning that NRHEG commonly goes up against teams from schools the size of Minnetonka.
“Those large schools have nearly unlimited resources compared to us,” she says. “They can have try-outs, while we accept everyone interested. They have unlimited access to gym space for practice; we have to take whatever space we can get. We are definitely the underdogs.”
One competition cheer member points out, “We don’t get any school funding for what we do. The money for nearly everything comes out of our parents’ pockets.” All supplies and materials, according to coaches, are purchased by the cheerleaders. Team members even raised the money needed to purchase the special mats required because of the risk of falls. Coaches also volunteer their time.
The format of cheerleading competitions, in which a single performance less than 3 minutes in duration determines the group’s ranking against potentially dozens of competitors, puts a lot of pressure on team members to get every detail right.
“In other sports,” observes Isabel Stadheim, “if they make a mistake in one game, they can come back from it by doing well in later games.
“We have to get it right the first time.”
“Unless you do it,” says senior team member Payton Bunn, “there’s no way to understand what it takes.”
“It’s fun,” says senior Brenna Summers. “It feels really good to perform something that challenging and get it right. There’s nothing like it.”
Senior Julia Churchill observes that the challenging stunt sequence in the group’s routine makes it dynamic and exciting to watch. “People really look forward to our performances,” she says.
Over the next couple of months, the members of the varsity competition cheer squad will continue their routine of frequent practices, often lasting more than 2 hours. They will be preparing for state competition in late January, teaching winter cheer camp for elementary students, and raising the $20,000 or so needed to take the team to Orlando for nationals in February.
“We’re going to be pretty busy,” admits senior Isabel Stadheim. “But it’s worth it: it’s exciting, it’s fun, and we can’t wait to find out how much we can accomplish this year.”