The cheer team kicked off their competition season with their first debut at NDB’s annual Dingbat rally.
Every year, the NDB Spirit Squad splits into the current school-wide sister classes – sophomores and seniors vs. freshmen and juniors – to form routines with their teammates to show the school. It is a battle between the sister classes and keeps the cheerleaders involved in the rally. This allows the girls to represent their own sister classes in a way only the cheerleaders can do.
Due to an extremely uneven split with the sister classes this year, the team has decided to master a routine as a whole group this year. Juniors Gabby Lonardo and Adriana Esguerra and seniors Bella Davis and Kiara Karcich have worked together to lead the team through the many formations, dances and new stunts. They have met multiple times outside of school to plan a solid routine. Esguerra put together the costumes with help from the other Dingbat leaders.
Lonardo began planning the routine in late July in preparation for the performance on Halloween.
“I’ve always loved choreographing things. I’ve been looking forward to this for a while and have been planning it for a long time,” Lonardo shared. “I also find it super fun to be able to lead my team.”
The leaders proposed the theme of “Monsters Inc.” to form the routine around. The team agreed and began practicing the dances sent out on their own time in late September. They met as a whole for a separate Dingbat practice before normal cheer practice on Monday, October 16.
The girls learned the dances on their own, in an effort to save the limited time the team had to practice altogether in person. At their following two practices, the girls mastered the stunts and the pyramid that was included throughout and as the closing of the routine.
Although there was no competition between the sister classes for the spirit squad this year, the teamwork they used to put together their strong routine is admirable and shone through when they performed at the rally.
