MCHS cheerleaders host camp, prepare for busy season
By Zach Greenwell While the majority of the Meade County community only sees the high school cheerleading squad cheering on the football and basketball teams, there is more to the faithful Greenwave and Lady Wave supporters than meets the eye. The squad is actually working year-round in preparation for several different activities that can’t be seen at a Friday night game. The latest objective for Meade County’s cheerleaders was to build a growing interest in the community’s youth, as the squad held their annual Cheer Camp last week at David T. Wilson. “For the older ones, learning technique helps them prepare if they want to cheer in high school,” said head coach Kim Hesler. “We just want to instill a love of cheering in the little ones so that they will come back – most girls keep coming back year after year.” According to Hesler, 63 girls attended the camp last week, where they learned several different aspects of the foundation of cheerleading. “Yesterday (Monday), we had a motion class where they do techniques on motion and today (Tuesday) we did jumps and a stunting workshop,” said Hesler. “This week they will learn four different sidelines, two different cheers and three different dances. On Friday night, they perform and show the parents what they’ve learned.”
Hesler said it’s important for a cheerleader to gain a love for the sport early in life in order to give it a full commitment in high school. “With a lot of girls, if they don’t love cheerleading and have that spirit, they usually won’t continue it through four years of high school,” she said. “Chelsey Garris has been cheering since she was really little and is a senior now, and most of our nine new girls were all in this camp last year.” The present high school cheerleaders act as coaches at Cheer Camp, which helps them improve their own skills, says Hesler. “I think it helps them with their technique,” she said. “It also teaches them leadership because they get to teach the little ones, which is especially important with us having nine new cheerleaders this year.” In addition to hosting Cheer Camp, the MCHS squad has already had a busy summer – and it only figures to become more so as the school year approaches. “We went to camp at EKU at the first of June, which was called a stunt performance camp,” said Hesler. “With us being young and new, I thought that would be a good experience for technique and bonding. We’re going to start learning our competition routine around the first of August and we will also be going to three competitions this year – one before Christmas and two after.” Hesler is the first to admit that having nine new members is not an easy hurdle to jump, but the second-year coach says that the group is growing closer and closer with each practice. “Getting them to bond with each other is a major aspect,” she said. “We spent so much time together this summer and going to camp together was a great experience. Last year we didn’t get to go away for camp, so I think letting them be together for three days will help us a lot during the year.”
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Photo by Zach Greenwell
Photo by Zach Greenwell