Many people think being a Lincoln High School cheerleader is easy, but a lot of work goes into putting on that performance at Ferguson Field on Friday night. For things such as bases, in which the cheerleaders work together to hold up another cheerleader, it takes muscle, teamwork, and focus, and the flyers have to be fearless when they are trusting the girls to keep them safe. This all takes time and practice.
“Cheerleaders are always stereotyped as non-athletes,” senior captain Anastasia Coleman said. “Sometimes it feels as though we do not get the same respect and recognition for our sport because we are cheering on other team sports. Truly, there is so much behind-the-scenes work that is not seen, such as stunting which takes a lot of work and focus. This is a team effort. If one person is off, it sends us through a loop.”
“Being a cheerleader means so much more than bows, pom-poms, cheer uniforms, and cheering at games,” head coach Dina Melise said. “Cheerleading is about sportsmanship, school pride and a sense of community. Cheerleaders are athletes, leaders, and entertainers. Cheerleading is just like any other team sport where athletes have to work together to reach that final end goal.”
The cheerleaders practice about three times a week at the P.E.C. to be a part of this squad and have to work together to make sure their performance looks flawless for the halftime show.
Cheer is also a sport that many high schoolers do not do because they are embarrassed to get up in front of their school. Performances like pep rally involve getting up in front of classmates and dancing and shouting and hoping to not mess up; it takes courage.
“Cheerleaders have to be loud and be able to take over the crowd even if you are scared,” sophomore Francesca Piccirilli said. “Cheerleaders have to make sure to always have a big smile on your face, the job of a cheerleader is to let the players know we believe in them”.
The cheerleaders’ job doesn’t just stop after the fall season, they also start competition season in winter. This is when the girls have to start working together to help their team shine in competition. This makes cheer even more stressful because now the girls have to worry about being judged on the performance they are putting on.“Our winter routine has a rubric which consists of stunt difficulty, stunt technique, pyramid difficulty, pyramid technique, formations and spacing, tumbling difficulty, tumbling technique, jump difficulty, jump technique, motions, dance, motion and dance technique, and performance/ showmanship, and use of cheer,” head coach Dina Melise said.
