It’s not the glitz, the bows or the skirts. It’s much more than that. It’s heart, hardwork and commitment. Cheerleaders don’t pursue their sport for the special recognition from their peers or for the so called popularity.

“It’s not as easy as you would think it is, it’s actually pretty pretty hard,” senior, Ashley Gunn said, who takes charge as team captain of the competitive cheer team as she did for the sideline cheer team in the fall. “I started cheering when I was in second grade,” she said. “I just wanted to try it, and ever since then I just loved it. So that’s what I just stuck to.”

Atheltes like Gunn compete because it pushes their limits as far as they can go and challenges their skills. The hours of dedication put into every hit, beat and chant at practices still can not confirm perfection on the competition mat.

Although Gunn has been working on her skills in the sport since a young age, she knows there is always the possibility of something going wrong while performing. “Just keep going, don’t stop. If you mess up, don’t make it obvious,” she said. “You just have to try and keep going no matter what.”

Cheerleading takes daily commitment. If not everyone shows up to a routine practice, the team may fail when it comes to performing a round in competition. When one person lacks dedication, the whole team suffers from that decision.

Freshmen Laurynn Kittle keeps this in mind as she strives to build her cheerleading future. “We could try working harder so that we are all better as one,” she said.

The chase for perfection is why coach Betty Phillips make sure the girls practice five days a week after school dismisses.

“Honestly, practice makes perfect in this sport. You have to get it all down and the go with it,” sophomore, Cassandra Chapman said, who has been cheering since age 3 and knows how the structure of cheer works. “You have to just take what the coaches give and work as hard as possible to get things how you would want them” she said.

Gunn understands her team mates have those days when they would like practice with less effort than what is wanted, but she also thinks the team should work just as hard in a practice as they would in a competition. “We should, so we can get into the movement of when we are in a competition,” she said.