The cheerleaders of Shadow Ridge High School are on fire and continue to improve every day. Both the JV and varsity teams are extremely skilled and work very hard on their sport. All of the girls have formed a special bond with each other that has helped contribute to their team unity and excellent performance.
JV has a total of 15 girls, while only 11 compete, and varsity also has 15 girls on their roster. They practice Monday through Thursday for a minimum of 1 and a half hours. Cheerleading is a year-round sport, which means the teams start in April and end in March.
Mrs. Chanes, the Head Coach for Varsity Cheerleading, believes that her cheerleaders have specific attributes and skills that are unique to their team.
“Their team bond and commitment to their skills are what makes them special,” Chanes says.
Shadow Ridge cheerleaders compete in 3 different competitions, which are JAMZ Nationals, USA Regionals, and USA Nationals in Anaheim, California. To be able to compete in USA Nationals, the girls had to qualify for it in a competitive competition at Anaheim.
One of the hardest competitions is the JAMZ Nationals, where Shadow competed with many teams from across the country and came out on top. Both JV and Varsity came in first, showcasing Shadow Ridge’s awesome cheer program and work ethic. Chanes is definitely proud of her team and all that they have accomplished.
“JAMZ is a cheer and dance competition that you must qualify for to compete in. They also have many different competitions for both cheer and dance,” Chanes explains.
The cheerleaders’ strong team bond, hard work, and dedication to the sport is what makes them so great. Being able to connect with teammates and friends is a strong asset for the girls, which makes them work even harder for each other. They also never give up, even when competition gets tough. Being resilient and able to push through their trials is what got them all the way to JAMZ, one of the best cheer competitions in the country.
“The team has built a strong bond between each other,” Chanes comments. “They have learned how to be a full team, not split JV and Varsity. We make one team and we make each other better.”
The competition choreographer, Coach K, decides what routines the team performs. The girls then take those routines and make them amazing by practicing hard and understanding that repetition with technique is very important in the cheer world.
Emma Finlinson, a top cheerleader and one of varsity’s captains, loves her sport and its purpose.
“Cheer is so much fun with this program because all the girls are so close, and I think that played a huge part in us winning JAMZ in JV and varsity’s divisions,” Finlinson says. “Cheer is all about supporting one another and I love that about our team.”
