Cheerful girls end competition season
The cheerleaders circle up one more time before they take the mat at the Carrollton Classic competition on October 13. Last “good lucks” and cheers of encouragement pass around the circle to pump the girls up. “All the girls are super supportive and we are all really close, so when we circle up before we perform it makes the team ready to perform,” sophomore Macey Lawrence said.
November 15, 2018
NC’s competition cheer team placed 12th out of 17 teams and wrapped up the season at the state championship competition held in Columbus, Georgia on November 9. The squad learned and grew through their endurance of hardships as team members faced numerous injuries and disappointing losses.
“Overall, I think we reached a lot of improvement, which was our biggest goal for the season. In my opinion, I feel like that is the best thing we could have done. Every single girl on the team conquered something this season, whether it was a new skill or making a new friend,” sophomore cheerleader Daniella King said.
The season began on October 13 with the Carrollton Classic competition, in which the girls placed 4th out of 5 teams. The cheerleaders say that they performed best at that competition because of the adrenaline they all felt.
“The nerves were high at the first competition since one cheerleader got hurt right before we went on the mat. We were all so nervous, so we did the absolute best we could in that instance,” sophomore Bella Van Essendelft said.
The team did not compete against anybody at their next two competitions, Adairsville High School and North Paulding High School, due to the lack of teams in NC’s division, 7A. The team did their best warm-up at the Adairsville competition, but, unfortunately, the pyramid fell during the routine. Adairsville took place on October 20 and North Paulding occured on the 27th. The team came out of both competitions with 1st place, because no other teams competed in their division.
The first of the two most important competitions of the season, State Championships, took place at the Columbus Civic Center in Columbus, Georgia on November 9. The cheerleaders, full of excitement and nervousness, took to the mat and encountered only one small mishap with a stunt. Regionals, the second of the two most important competitions, took place at Johns Creek High School on November 3. There, despite a failed pyramid attempt, the team performed the routine relatively cleanly.
NC competition cheer team soars through the sky, performing a basket toss, a difficult stunt. The nerves, apparent at the last competition before regionals, helped the team secure 1st place. The competition occurred at North Paulding High School on October 27.
“Our best competition was regionals because the girls put their best foot forward and really showed up. The season as a whole went really well because of the girls’ dedication to improve every week,” NC competition cheer coach Becky Young said.
Overall the team completed a satisfactory season of bonding and learning new skills and strategies. The girls received a higher score at the first competition this year than the final competition last year and scored a personal record at State Championships this year. Cheerleaders and coaches describe the team as sharing incredible closeness with each other because of the endless hours gone into practicing.
“I don’t think it was about how many awards we received or what place we got, it was more about beating ourselves [score-wise] from last year. We truly did that. We are walking away proud of ourselves and glad of what we have achieved,” King said.
