“Panther! Power! Let’s go, orange and black!” The cheer team roared more enthusiastically than previous years before. Something had changed, and what once went from a small team went to a huge team of 16 girls. From coaching changes to cheer changes, the Stockbridge Sideline Cheer team is back and better than ever.
“This sideline season has been a success with numbers of participation being at an all time high to the crowd participation from the student section,” new sideline coach Sara Steinkraus said. With participation being at an all-time high, it is no wonder that the student section has followed through as well. “After Homecoming, there has been a lot more people in the student section,” Junior Valeria Morales explains.
The student section has had a huge turnover with the amount of excitement and amount of people. “The energy is high and very supportive as well as many people are supporting our JV and Varsity teams.” Morales describes.
Steinkraus is in her first year of being a Sideline Coach but is in her 9th year of coaching Competitive Cheerleading.
“My passion for the sport is why I decided to coach sideline,” Steinkraus states. As she has made her changes she has a goal in mind.
“The goal for the season is to build a strong culture for the sport and help it grow while having fun,” Steinkraus adds.
Last year, the sideline squad only consisted of 5 girls which led to limited flexibility when it came to stunt groups. With the team being bigger this year, there is more of a spectrum for girls to learn all about the cheers and the sport itself.
“We have a lot more flexibility in stunting and it just adds to the big family environment,” Junior Captain Bella Glenn said.
Sideline Cheerleading may be a hard sport for some to learn, but the girls try their best to memorize the cheers and chants.
“The reality is that it is hard but I can achieve anything,” freshman newbie Vida Corona said. With Corona being completely new to the cheer world, a refreshing mindset of believing she can do what she wants with hard work is the way she leads herself.
“It’s something I’m passionate about and it motivates me,” Corona states.
As the season progresses, Corona is learning more and more about cheer and overall enjoying the atmosphere that she is involved in.
Nearing the end of the season, hopefully all of the girls involved in sideline cheerleading are preparing for the harshness of competition cheer. From learning choreography to student sections, participation is at an all-time high compared to the past which may just be one of the many factors that contribute to the sideline team’s success this past fall season.
This year, the cheerleaders have been involving the students a lot and bringing them down to play games and do cheers, many of the volunteers have said it makes them more comfortable in front of their peers.
“They’re very interactive with the cheer team like they call us down when they want to do cheers and have cheers ready,” captain-in-training Mackenzie Wentzel said.
