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Monday, October 1, 2007
Three Cheers for Small Town Cheerleaders
Central Oklahoma, OK
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By: Haley Giltner, Washington High School
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Going to such a small school like Washington has many advantages in cheerleading.
Everyone knows everyone else, so we don't get the whole "snooty" stereotype. Everyone knows how we are, and they know we aren't snobs. Our students support us so much during games. It is so fun to be able to cheer on our football team with the majority of the student body.
Elementary and junior high kids also get involved. It's pretty cool when you walk into the cafeteria and it seems like 50 little girls are in awe that you are a cheerleader.
And along with that awe comes expectations. We’re a small school, but we have big expectations.
One of the expectations is success in our sports programs. I am glad that cheerleading is included in this line of success. The cheerleading competition squad won the OSSAA state title in 1999, 2001, 2002, and 2003 for Class A. The last time Washington won was when my fellow captains, Kelsey McPherson and Melissa Atkinson and I were not able to cheer because we were only in the 8th grade.
Since Washington is such a small school, our cheerleader numbers have been down the past few years, but this year is different.
The cheerleaders are looking forward to showing the talent we have developed at this years OSSAA State competition. We have 21 high school cheerleaders and 21 junior high cheerleaders, which is promising for the future of Washington cheerleading.
We just recently went to Chickasha and won the title of Regional Champions for class 2A.
Our coaches, Sheila LeForce, Craig Hallmark, and Jeff LeForce, are the best coaches around. They have prepared us for every step. In addition to preparing us for competition, they also work on our sideline cheers, chants, and pep assemblies. Our sideline cheerleading has really kicked it up a notch this year. With 21 of us, I can honestly say that I never met girls who work so hard and love what they do as much as these girls. There is so much heart on this squad. Our fans and friends know how much we care.
In a school whose total student body numbers in the 800s, Washington's cheerleaders often wear several hats, by playing other sports, such as softball and basketball. This creates the need for all the sports to be flexible in sharing the girls so that they can become well rounded athletes. Practicing around other sports often makes it difficult to fit in a practice schedule.
In addition to 7th hour cheerleading at school (for those who do cheer only), we practice from 8-10 Sunday evenings, Wednesday after school, and take tumbling classes weekly.
We understand that cheering at Washington is a year around commitment. We have tryouts in March, work on camp until we go in June, take a break in July, then start back up with choreography and competition practice at the beginning of August until October. Cheering at ballgames continues through March, until tryout time again.
Even "small town" cheerleading can have a big impact on the sports and students of the school. We love our small community and school, where the support we get from everyone around pushes us to be our best.
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