The NDB Spirit Squad is essential to promoting school spirit at assemblies, games and rallies. As a year-round sport, they practice during the fall, winter and spring; cheer at Serra HS football games as well as both NDB and Serra basketball games; and compete in cheer competitions.
There are multiple competitions scheduled throughout the year. Most of them take place around the Bay Area. This week, the team will fly to Anaheim for the USA Spirit Nationals. Preparation for these competitions is intense and requires lots of practice to memorize the choreography and ensure the routine is clean and in sync.
On average, the preparation for a cheer competition begins around 6 a.m. for most girls, with make-up taking the longest. But, it is dependent on the call time for the team.
After getting ready for a full day, the team meets at the competition location a few hours before their actual performance time. The team anxiously await their turn to warmup. They follow a similar event schedule during every competition. Their turn ends when they perform and then receive their scores and standings.
“After we get there, we watch teams for a little bit, while everyone arrives, for about an hour,” said junior Adriana Esguerra. “We then get a room to practice for exactly seven minutes. After …, we go and compete right away. Then, we wait until everyone’s done and go to awards.”
The months of preparation all come down to the moment they are about to perform. It is after this performance that the team unity truly shines through as they all congratulate each other for their months of practice finally being showcased in their two minute and thirty second performance.
“A lot of preparation goes into getting not just the athletes ready to compete mentally and physically, but getting their competition routines ready to hit the score sheets,” said Spirit Squad Head Coach Morgan Craig. “It takes months to prepare for their first competition of the season because cheerleading is physically demanding and it takes lots of repetition, stamina as well as mental toughness.”
These hours spent at the competition are both anxiety-provoking and exciting, and is an experience that helps the team to bond and create memories.
Cheer is not a sport to be underestimated as it takes a lot of dedication, patience and time. It works to challenge its participants as they strive for perfection, and is a catalyst for unity among girls as they work together to achieve high scores.
The NDB Spirit Squad continues to strive for success at their last few practices as they prepare to head to nationals to compete against teams at the next level.
