As the school year is approaching its end, so is the time for sports teams. Yet, that also means new teams are coming in for the next school year, and that includes our Pasco Bulldog cheer team. May being here means cheer tryouts are right around the corner for upcoming cheerleaders interested in joining the purple and white team.
Every year, before the school year ends, head coach Melissa Wright and Pricilla Christensen oversee the tryouts as seniors and returners step up and help the new girls during the tryout week to choose their new squad. After working hard learning a choreographed routine and new skills throughout the week, the real test needs to be done: the actual performance for the coaches and judges, where they will choose the new girls. Once a girl has made the team, the real cheerleading experience begins.
Fundraising begins right away for the girls to collect enough money for the upcoming year and all their activities, which include cheer camps, competitions, events they host, and many more. Most of the money goes to the team uniforms that are custom-made by Varsity.
Over the years, many parents and students have had both love and hate relationships with these fundraisers, and it is clear to see.
“Shortly after my daughter made the team, she had to start selling discount cards and flower baskets for her season. It is tough at first when the girls are shy to start, but once they get the hang of it, it gets easier for both parents and athletes,” parent Andrea Gonzalez states after being a parent of a cheerleader for a second year.
“Fundraising wasn’t my favorite thing; having to go door to door in neighborhoods selling flowers and cards during the heat was not nice, but it had to get done. If we don’t fundraise what we need, we obviously need to give the remaining money we owe, which is not something any parent or athlete looks forward to,” senior and former cheerleader Alexis Senda states.
Most girls are most excited about the famous ‘Friday Night Lights’, yet to cheer on the sidelines, there are a few tests one must pass to be able to cheer for the Bulldogs. Summer practices begin the last week of school for the team, from learning about 100 cheers to new skills as stunt groups. The team works hard throughout the whole summer to have their cheers ready for the first football game of the season in September.
“I’m sure the new team will enjoy getting ready with each other. They will make memories together as friends and almost a family because of all the time they will eventually spend together. It creates really nice memories for them as teenagers. I will most definitely miss that the most about cheer,” Senda says. She is graduating this year and recently ended her third year as a Pasco cheerleader.
What are your thoughts on our Pasco High cheer team? Do you think you can make the team, or do you see yourself on the sidelines representing the school?
