Poms shaking, fans screaming, and arms pumping.
Papillion-Lavista High School offers many extracurricular activities. Two of them are cheer and dance. The dance team is one squad of 13 dancers. It is a team where dancers perform and compete against others. Cheer in high school is sideline and consists of two teams: Jv and Varsity, a total of 28 people.
Many of these athletes have been doing their sport for as long as they can remember. It has been a part of their life forever.
“I have been dancing since I was three years old,” dance team member Avery Secord said.
Audri Gutierrez is on the Varsity cheerleading team and was on the JV team her first year.
“When I was three years old, I started all-star cheer at Beyond All Stars,” sophomore Audri Gutierrez said.” But when I got to high school, I started doing high school cheer.”
People in high school tend to take on harder classes and more responsibility. This can be challenging for people in sports and activities when practices are very demanding and require lots of attention.
“We have practiced every Monday after school, Wednesday mornings, and Sunday mornings, “Secord said.
Although football games are an effective way to get excited, behind the scenes is where most of the cheerleaders and dancers have their fun.
“My favorite tradition that the cheer team does is car parties,” Gutierrez said. “It’s a fun way to bond and get hyped up before a game.”
Both teams had the same idea when it came to partying before a game.
“Before every home football game, we have car parties,” Secord said. “Where we have dinner at someone’s house and then drive around before the game.”
Speaking of game day, the process can be fun but also long. The traditions that have been created over the years are still going strong and getting people excited for what is to come on Friday nights.
“Game days usually look like us going to someone’s house and all of us getting ready with each other,” Gutierrez said. “We decorate cars and drive a fun route to the foundation field.”
When they get to the field, they have to get ready to introduce the football players.
“We line up in a line so the players can run through it onto the field,” Secord said.
These two teams both have quite different points of view of what a game day looks like. Varsity cheer travels to away games while dance goes to home games.
“We stretch and practice and take pictures before the team comes out,” Gutierrez said. “Then we line up and do ‘On Papillon’, and then run to our designated spots until we win.”
Although sports and activities can be demanding and challenging, they can be extremely rewarding and fun as well.