The girls who have been there for every game with smiles and sideline chants are finally in their own season, competition season that is. Perrys cheer program has been unstoppable this month in every competition and are for sure creating a name for themselves. During nonstop practices and games to root on the basketball boys they obviously have not let the mental and physical exhaustion get in their way, as the girls have created a winning streak by placing first at their past four competitions and are only hungry for more. The girls took home first at AIA state this past weekend and are on cloud nine.

Although, the fun is not over as the girls are only going to push even harder to make sure they can the home the gold at nationals in Anaheim at the end of February.

Ashdyn Marr junior main base states the overall-biggest strength for the team is “We have been working really hard, and have probably done 20 full outs in the past week or two. So I think consistency is for sure our strong spot.”

Head cheer coach Desiree Stinnett states to prepare for these next competitions “We are working a lot on mental strength, all the girls are extremely talented, but sometimes I think that mentally you can get in your own way. So something we’ve been really working on is how you stay strong during this really long portion of our season.”

As stated previously during this season the girl’s bodies are in high demand from cheering on the basketball team’s victories all while enduring intense practices five days a week. Flyer senior Haley Wiesenhofer stated “The thing we need to work on the most is our confidence going in.”

In intense competitions like AIA state and nationals,  judges will be watching for
any slight mistake no matter how small. With that being said clean routines are a must.

“Right now we’re kind of on a schedule,” Stinnett said, “So we’ll work skills for a day, then full outs where you do everything, then stunt troughs where they’re not tumbling to give their bodies a break. We ask from them five hits a week, so five full outs where they hit everything.”

Each girl is pushing their limits and difficulty is a word ingrained in their lives right now but they remain to stick together as they are all tight-knit on and off the mat. “They all have a common goal and want to win so even when it’s hard, they’re sore, sick or struggling they can come together with that. Whereas some teams will let that tear them apart.”  Stinnett stated when being asked on the girl’s biggest strength.

As each girl will continue to work harder than ever they are actively perfecting every movement and facial expression for the big day. “We have to work on our performance, we all have the skills but we need to make sure to keep up the endurance because that’s what the national and state judges are looking for.” Exclaimed Ashdyn Marr.  Perry cheer will leave it all on the mat at Nationals in Anaheim February 21st- 24th.