EC cheering for chance at gold

They don’t throw a football or wear eye black like football players. Instead, the Ricebird cheerleaders’ weapons of choice are pom-poms, handheld signs and their voices. On football Friday nights, they use their armaments to get a crowd involved, cheering with them to support the football team, and yesterday they used those same weapons to win points and try to advance to the finals for a shot at the state championship.

While they don’t tackle other players or throw a ball through a hoop, the cheerleaders have been practicing just as much as their counterparts. Before the school year even started, they were getting ready for the upcoming football season and now that it was over, they’re still at it preparing for the upcoming championships.

“On the days when we didn’t have school, we’d be up here twice a day for three hours, learning all the choreography and trying to perfect it. During the week we practice cheering for the other sports,” junior Emmy Lou Russell said.

Cheering demands a lot physically, not only are they performing different skills, but they’re also doing it while yelling at the top of their lungs, smiling and waving, an almost constant movement for three straight minutes, during the spirit championships

“It’s a different type of endurance than just running,” cheer coach Terese Tompkins said.

While they might not look like typical athletes, with the agility, strength and poise needed to cheer for the Ricebirds, they’re certainly at the very least athletic.

“(People) don’t understand how much physical activity actually goes into this sport. They think we can just easily throw girls in the air and just catch them, as opposed to 200-pound guys hitting each other,” senior Shaylee Vaclavick said. “You can not give 50 percent at any time or someone could get hurt.”

Many of the Ricebird cheerleaders also play team sports, including Vaclavick who played volleyball and is currently playing basketball along with her duties on the cheer team.

Unlike team sports, in cheering, there isn’t a bench, everyone is a starter, from the girls who fly through the air, to flag wavers to even Ricky Ricebird, everyone is needed to put on a routine. Like football players who play through injuries, the cheerleaders also tough out aches and pains.

“Everyone on the team is probably going through an injury,” sophomore Holly Foegelle said. “But we know there is no one to replace us.”

“A bunch of us are also working out for double sports right now,” Rod said. “Softball season is ramping up. It’s powerlifting season. The all-star season is ramping up for cheerleading. We’re all doing two-three workouts a day and we keep good grades because we all take pride in our academics in this cheerleading program.”

The competition took part Friday after the press deadline look for an update in the upcoming edition of the Leader-News.

El Campo last competed in the spirit championship in 2020 and they did not advance out of the preliminary round.

The competition is split into three parts, fight song, crowd leading and band chant, with three minutes to show off all their skills.

In the previous competition, the Ricebird cheerleaders’ best marks were in the school fight song, scoring 83.733 points, good enough for 15th in prelims.

“I feel like we’re very prepared. We’ve spent hours practicing in the early mornings (to get ready),” Ricky Ricebird junior Bethany Baker said.

The varsity cheerleaders this season are seniors Claire Crowell, Skylar Dornak, Kennedy Ritz,  Aubrey Samaripa, Avery York, Vaclavick and Rod, juniors Kaylynn Mendez, Ally Sohrt, Kinley Tompkins, Baker, Russell and Foegelle, sophomore Angelena Solis and freshmen Jordyn Maldonado, Addison Tompkins and Allie Zalman.