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Cheer
With glowing smiles and pom-poms in hand, the girls cheered to a sea of roaring spectators staring from above at the two teams meshed into one.
Cheer surprised the crowd by collaborating with Washington’s Cheer squad at the Battle of the Birds last Friday.
The collaboration had been planned out for a while. In preparation for the game, the two teams practiced together for about five months. “For this routine we tried to mix in our dance and add some of theirs,” Ye said.
The idea of a collaboration first emerged from their summer at cheerleading camp, where they were the only two teams from the city. “We got along with the girls at Wash,” coach Jennifer Conley said.
Both squads fed off the high-energy crowd and fueled fans’ adrenaline at Kezar Stadium with their routine. “The crowd was really intense today,” senior Cheer member Adrian Ye said.
Junior Co-captain Tina Kwan agreed. “It was amazing,” Kwan said. “There was a lot of school spirit.”
The girls did not let a disruption during their performance throw off their focus and remained enthusiastic despite a knocked over stereo that temporarily cut off the music. “We were really mad,” Ye said. “But when the music stops you gotta keep on going.”
Along with their full game schedule, Cheer is kicking off the school year with a fundraiser to help them on their road to Nationals in Anaheim in March; the team members are selling cookie dough to raise money to pay for their trip. “It’s really tough because each person would need to sell about 231 tubs,” junior Joanna Luo said.
Song
Song continues to struggle with its lack of funds for a choreographer. Although Song is a member of the Association of Spirit Leaders, it is not considered an official sport and therefore is not funded by the school. In fact, the team is the only one in the district.
A misunderstanding arose from their name when junior co-captain Emily Lewin’s father donated $250 to the team. The check was given to the Parent Teacher Student Association, who directed the money to the school’s music program rather than Song. “We’re used to it,” senior Kimberly Feliciano said. “Everyone thinks that Song sings.” However, Lewin’s mother is a PTSA member and plans to get the problem sorted out.
Donations don’t come by often. Since Song does not receive funding, the team gains support through fundraisers. During past fundraisers, Song sold cupcakes and participated in Powder Puff football games. Expenses not covered by fundraisers come from their own pockets.
Senior Letter
Senior Letter is practicing three times a week to prepare for the upcoming spirit rally in November. They made their big showcase at Battle of the Birds on Oct. 10. “We tried our best and hoped everyone liked it,” senior Ava Vilhauer said.
Senior Letter first introduced themselves at the home football game on Oct. 3 against Burton but did not perform at the game. Instead, they cheered along with the other spirit teams. Due to it being a small home game, a sound system was not set up, but the team nonetheless was thrilled to cheer. “It was definitely a new experience,” senior co-captain Arman Liwanag said. “I thought we did pretty well cheering for our first game ever; but there is still room for improvement.”
The team took part in their first outdoor performance at the game. “You definitely have to be louder,” senior co-captain Christal Tossany said. “But we were pretty energetic for a small team.”
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