West Cheer wins region, competes at State

West Florence has a competition cheer team and they made it all the way to State in this, their first year, placing 11th on Saturday, Nov. 20. This was after taking the region championship on Oct. 19.

“My experience of becoming region champs last night was so exciting” Junior Hayden Schwietering said. “We worked so hard in the short amount of time that we were given, and winning the competition means that all of our hard work that we put in every day has finally paid off!”

Teammate Kyndal Coleman, sophomore, couldn’t agree more.

“Becoming region champions last night was extremely exciting!” she said. Because she has never competed on a competition cheer team before, she said the experience of winning something like that was very new to her.

“We work incredibly hard as a team, so it was rewarding to feel as though it has paid off!” Coleman said.

The sport of competition cheerleading debuted over 61 years ago, beginning in the 1960’s. Cheer squads started to compete against each other. At a typical cheerleading competition, teams perform a 2 and a half minute routine with music that includes stunts, jumps, and tumbling. Teams are judged by a panel of cheerleading experts on difficulty and execution, and this year West Florence High School has premiered their very own squad of competition cheerleaders.

Cheerleading is a physically demanding sport and adding the competition element just intensifies everything. There are more practices, longer hours, more difficult stunts, and tumbling.

“Our competition squad consists of girls from both the varsity and junior varsity squads. It's a huge bonding opportunity between the classes as well,” said coaches Jordyn Kieffer and Beth Prosser.

Competition squad member Sarah Hardee, sophomore, said the team is very hardworking.

“We have had a lot of difficulties this year but we have still managed to look our best at our first competition, ” she said. “Even though we have only been a team together for a few months, we have improved so much.”

During practices, the girls work very hard on “hitting zero”, which means that they hit the routine without stunt falls or tumble busts.

“Since we just had our first competition, we have now started to slightly change the routine to make it more difficult. Our practices consist of a lot of hard work but also a good time,” said the coaches.

Senior squad member Alexandria Mitchell says the West Competition cheer team has a great bond.

“We all want what is best for each other and the team, the whole team is filled with amazing athletes who work their very hardest to make everything as perfect as possible!” she said.

Her teammates agree.

“I feel like the most valuable aspect of being on the competition team has been that we have had the ability to see progress within ourselves, each other, and our team as a whole.” said Coleman. “It is an incredible feeling to work hard and receive winning results!”

The decision came about to start a Competition cheer squad when FS1 decided to start a wrestling Program and wanted to add another girls sport, so they began a competition team at all three high schools. The coaches say that WFHS has had cheer competition teams in the past, but have taken a break for over 10 years.

“The most valuable aspect of being on the competition team is teamwork; we all have to work together and trust each other to pull off an amazing routine,” Sophomore Weatherly Tiller said.

Tiller said she has enjoyed the competition team so much this year, and is looking forward to future competitions.

An added bonus to this season was getting to host the region competition at West Florence on Oct. 19.

No doubt, the most valuable aspect of being on the team is being able to form special bonds with the other girls; this aspect pushes the squad to want to win and push themselves even more.

Congratulations to the WF Competition Cheer Team, Region Champions. With such a successful inaugural season, this program is definitely on the rise!

Interview with Kyndal Coleman