Pom’s, bows, signs, megaphones. Cheerleaders get the crowd involved. Cheerleaders are loud and sharp. Cheerleaders are excited.
Here at PLHS cheerleaders are motivated and work hard for accomplishments. They are the leaders at sporting events. But what really is PLHS cheer all about?
PLHS cheer first starts with tryouts. This takes many hours of practicing to make the team. Lots of the girls who have tried out have been cheering for many years.
“I fell in love with this sport at the age of six and wanted to pursue it through my high school career,” Senior Alexis Frans said.
Those who tryout and make the team have a new family and a new life to escape to cheer. It has helped many people escape from reality.
“Cheer has helped me keep my mind off rough patches in my life. It is almost like an escape. When things get troublesome in teenage years, the people and the environment are freeing,” Sophomore Allison Maral said.
Many cheerleaders worry that there will be no team once they graduate, which is why it is so important to encourage others to try new things out of their comfort zone, because either way it will teach you new life lessons.
“I would encourage youth to cheer. Even if they do not fall in love with it they will learn a surplus of lessons that can be applied to one’s daily life,” Frans said.
As cheerleaders get older, they start to think about the big question. Cheering in college? It is a big decision because cheering in high school and then going to college and cheering are completely different because college cheer is a much larger community.
“If I get a scholarship for cheer then I probably would cheer in college, but I also think about how restricting college would be with being on a team and representing the school everyday,” Maral said.
In the end cheerleaders are hardworking motivated athletes who have the chance to pursue their dreams no matter how old they are. They are willing to put in the work to be better and do better even as a person.