Football Fridays. As a Lincoln High School cheerleader, these are the days we spend hours working on. Our cheers must be perfect and sharp, halftime has to be entertaining and clean, and our spirit has to be through the roof. 

Our practice starts at 2:00 on Fridays after school. We bring everything we need for the rest of the night to the locker room to change and meet on the track. Once everyone is ready and stretched we can start warming up from the first home game of the season, practicing stunts, band dances, and cheers. Our team takes perfection seriously and tries to get as close to it as we can.

Practice ended at 3:30, earlier than usual, so we had time to eat and prepare before the football game. All the girls get together in the locker room, doing their hair and makeup while listening to music and eating food. In some games, we have less time to get ready, while in others, we have more time to ourselves. For this particular game, we had to be on the field for 5:45 because it was a home game. However, for away games, we have to be packed, ready, and on the bus by 5:15. 

As six o’clock rolls around, the cheer team makes its way to the field, celebrating the purple out theme, wearing purple face paint and bows. It’s a rare occasion we participate in the football game themes but when we can we always make the most of it!

We start warming up before the game starts, getting in our last practice time for stunts, cheers, and tumbling as the crowd starts to flow in. By 6:45 we had made all the last-minute corrections and critiques to our routine and most of the student sections and parent sections had arrived. The crowd looked like a sea of purple, flowing through the bleachers and grass. Being the first home game of the season it was exciting to see everyone who shows up although even if it was an away game, our student section never disappoints.

As the game approaches halftime, we all mentally and physically prepare for halftime. We usually would have a halftime routine ready for the crowd, where we would go out in the middle of the field and perform. However, for this game, we just had a sideline stunt sequence for the crowd to enjoy. The cheerleaders have a break during halftime to see family and friends or take pictures and discuss the night. 

The game quickly came to an end with an overall score of 35 to 26 against Classical. The games usually end around 9:00 or 9:30 depending on how the course of the game goes. Once the game is completely over we will pack our things up and make sure no trash is left behind. Then we grab our things from the locker room and call it a night.