The 2015-2016 varsity cheer team is ready to stunt, tumble, and cheer their way into the new season. With a few new faces there are eight seniors, a handful of  juniors, two sophomores, and two freshmen. Senior and co-captain Tatum Dawe believes the new members have positively contributed stating “They’ve brought a lot of talent to the team.”

The ladies have their first competition on Nov. 7 and this one is very significant “because if they qualify then they get to go to Nationals in Disneyland in March,” Head Cheer Coach Desiree Stinnett explains.  

Following that, on Dec. 7 is their Arizona Interscholastic Association (AIA) competition.

“That’s kind of what you work for,” Stinnett says. “You only get to go to that one competition to see if you qualify for state.”

Because competition season  does not start until November, the team spends Friday nights preparing by cheering on the football team. Their performances during basketball season are also very crucial to the success of their routines. “During the games, we actually do the stunts that…are in our competition routine,” senior cheer captain Megan Matthews explains. Performing their competition sequences helps the ladies perfect their dances and gain confidence in them. “It helps us improve because it gives us more repetition and more practice.” Dawe says.

Along with that, they use every opportunity they can to perfect their routines, taking advantage of select weekday and weekends as well as their 3rd hour period. Stinnett estimates that the girls put in around 12 hours of practice a week in the time leading up to competitions and assembly performances.

The team is also very diligent in showing their school spirit. “For the really big games, especially, the girls like to go decorate the football locker room and make treats for the football players,” Stinnett explains. They also like to get together and make sins and hang them up around the school for the upcoming games. “We always wear our spirit gear on Fridays and we try to just promote a lot of school spirit on campus,” Stinnett says.