Competition cheer proves to be as much of a sport as any

Noah Siderhurst, Editor-in-Chief

Competition cheer is an under-appreciated sport at HHS, according to coach Hannah Thigpen.

“[Competition cheer] has always been seen as another extracurricular activity… [but] I’ve never underestimated it as a sport,” Thigpen said.

Senior Jadah Kilby-Woodward agrees. She also thinks that the amount of work put into competition cheer by the athletes is more than enough to qualify it as a sport.

“A lot of people, when I say I do competition cheer, they’re like, ‘Oh, that’s nothing.’ I come out of practice dripping with sweat. We condition like everyone else, we run hills… we do a lot of cardio, we do a lot of ab work, a lot of legs and arms, because we are literally lifting people up into the air. When we’re tumbling, we’re supporting our own self…You have to be very fit. I think it’s definitely under-appreciated,” Kilby-Woodward said.

Despite its relative lack of esteem from some people in the school, as Thigpen enters her sixth year of coaching, she thinks the team will do well.

“[I’m looking forward to] bringing the team together. I think the [cheerleaders] have a lot of talent,” Thigpen said.

Kilby-Woodward, who is entering her fourth year on the team, is excited for the season ahead as well.

“It’s my senior year, so I’m excited to finally be there at the end, at the finish line. I am a little sad, but it’s a good feeling,” Kilby-Woodward said.

After high school, Kilby-Woodward would like to continue cheering, but worries that it is very hard to get onto a team in college, especially at UVA where she plans to attend. One way she hopes to stay involved in the future is through judging competitions, although she will not be able to do that until later in her life.

Unlike sideline cheer, which is focused on specific, individual cheers, competition cheer is based on a routine involving stunts, jumps, motions, a human pyramid and tumbling, which is when you do gymnastics such as somersaulting. At competitions, teams are judged on all of these components which they must incorporate into their routine.

“You try to pack every aspect of cheer into a routine while still making it look nice and showing off everything you have,” Kilby-Woodward said.

The cheer team will compete in seven competitions total against other teams in the area before regionals. However, only five actually count and the other two are only for practice. If the team makes it to regionals, they have the chance of going to states and then on to nationals if they do well enough. Thigpen thinks the things the team needs to work on are the basic skills involved in the routine, as the routine has already been set.

Two new freshman joined the team this year, including Lydia Grogg, who is starting her first year cheering for a school. Although Skyline and Thomas Harrison Middle Schools both have sideline cheer teams, neither have competition cheer teams, so Grogg decided to cheer at a local gym until high school instead.

“[Cheering in high school] isn’t that different, but I think the way the kids act to the coaches is really different… It’s not strict enough [here],” Grogg said. “I think that they should be more ‘get to it’ about stuff.”

Although Grogg did have a few complaints, she also thinks that the team will do well this year based on their teamwork, which Thigpen believes is a very important part of competition cheer.

“[Competition cheer] is the biggest team sport there is out there. You can’t do it without every single one of them and 100% dedication,” Thigpen said.