On December 3, the peppiest sport on campus got to showcase their routines at GHSA Game Day Cheerleading Championship in Columbus, Georgia. The competition consisted of two rounds: a qualifying round and a state round.
After placing 6th in qualifying, the War Eagles moved on to the state round, where they placed 5th in 4A, the highest they have ever finished.
This excellent result can be attributed to countless hours of hard work and dedication, as preparing for Game Day is quite different from sideline football cheer.
As opposed to sideline cheer, which is much more reactive as the game carries on behind them, competition cheer involves a high level of detail and precision, each movement meticulously planned. This competition also includes specific requirements that must be performed in a specific order and time constraints.
The team must perform specific routines based on the structure of the competition.
Varsity Cheer Coach Elizabeth Dete described this format. “The first element is the sixty-second band chant, which requires a dance to marching band music with integrated crowd callbacks. Next, the announcer gives an offensive or defensive prompt, and the captain must recognize it and appropriately call an offense or defense sideline chant. This element is included in the state final round only. The third element is the crowd leading cheer that has a sixty-second time limit. This element integrates crowd callbacks, stunting, tumbling, flags, and extensive sign usage. Finally, each team concludes with their school fight song and dance,” Dete explained.
Coach Dete described the cheerleaders’ performances that day as “nearly perfect,” the squad giving it their all. The team scored the highest in the fight song category, which was special because the same dance has been used for thirty years or more.
Even though the competition required focus and precision, the team still had lots of fun in the process. Cheerleader Sophia Valdez expressed her excitement from the competition. “I was so excited to return to Game Day this year, and I had so much fun competing because the cheers are more intense so we could really give it our best,” she said.
Since they placed in the top six in the state round, the team got to go to the mat for the top-six reveal, which added another layer of excitement. The squad’s record 5th place finish is also impressive considering that other cheer teams spend all of their time competing and do not accompany a football team.
Coach Dete and the cheer team are proud of the culmination of their season and are looking forward to hopefully placing even higher next year.
