Written By: Daniel Holscher, Staff Writer
THE DANCERS JOURNEY: Poly’s cheer and song teams run up on another year of Football events and State Championships, using their flawless work ethic to conquer the season.
THE WORLD OF DANCE:
Integrating yourself into the dance world is something that takes a lot of effort and dedication, just as any other sport. Poly High School contains two major Pep Squad units, Cheer and Song., (stunt second semester). Poly Pep Squad’s Cheer and Song teams have cheered and danced at three football games this season so far, not including the time spent through pep rally’s and off-time to perfectly perform their routines. Football games require two hours of non-stop motion, no matter the weather conditions, as well as practices requiring vigorous work to condition for future events. With rivalry week on the rise and homecoming around the corner, our teams are getting set for one of their busiest times of the school year. Through the most work-filled days every dancer has a reason to pull so much time into the craft. What makes this passion so prominent and lively to the life of a dancer?
(Aubrey Cochran (10), Kaseylyn Strange (10)).
SONG:
Cathleen Sachs, the Head Coach of Song, has been coaching dance for 15 years. She has been dancing from the age of two and always clung to the interest of the art, dancing at a local studio as well as her high school team. “Passion, dedication, and hard work” were the words she used to describe the path to becoming a dancer. “We may not be tackling each other or throwing a ball around…but you need the stamina, strength, technique, flexibility.” Dance is a very unique world to immerse yourself in, applying the use of motivation and spirit to keep afloat. This sport is an expressive outlet for most, allowing each athlete to comfort themselves through the use of technique. They perform various routines throughout their season as a whole. “Dance gives me a reason to come to school everyday,“ says Lexi Mercadefe, Co-Captain (11).
Though with every sport, certain aspects create struggles for the athlete, physically and mentally, dancers find themselves constantly comparing their own skillset to the ones of others around them, creating a huge mental gap in mindset. “You should honestly focus on yourself and bettering yourself instead of worrying about being better than someone else..positive mindset through it all,” is the advice Morgan Bellman (11), a song Co-captain, emits for the mentality behind discouragement. Working through this barrier is an extremely challenging part to achieve, especially with the application of a dancer’s social life, personal life, and academics. They come up with various ways to balance their priorities. Dancers often put down these nooks of life to pursue the practice of dance. “It’s always worth it once you get there, it makes me feel really good…it gives me something to always go back to,” Delaney Adcock (11) expressed. Delaney added that the Poly dance team dedicates time to tons of strenuous conditioning and events, often looked over as a sport. These dancers are no different from our other athletic teams here at Poly, and they deserve all the praise in the world. From early conditioning for football season in August, to competition season in spring, our dancers’ dedication and willpower is undeniably strong. “Dance is an art, a sport, and a way to work hard while doing something you love..it helps me express my feelings towards certain situations without physically getting mad about it,” says Madison Duncan (11) Head Captain. While many conditioning days can catch up and stress can be prominent, dance holds a very special place in the hearts of the song team. It’s a huge journey, with lots of unexpected twists and turns around each corner, but this is exactly what brings the passion and thrill towards many dancers – the journey of a lifetime.
Many dancers begin their trek at such young ages, joining studios as young as the age of 5. It can eventually find its way through the hardships of life and become a form of comfort and challenge for them. When asking most dancers where they would be without dance, the most popular answer was the feeling of the unknown. Dance is what our Pep Squad lives and strives for, it’s a way of life. “I run a very busy life, always on the go. But that’s a dancer’s life, constantly going and moving. I’ve found myself finding a balance between the slowing down and speeding up,” says coach Cathleen Sachs.
CHEER:
Cheer is another unit of Pep Squad that replicates the same work ethic and standards just as dance, cheering through challenging routines and events. “Being a part of Pep Squad has definitely changed my perspective of how I see cheerleaders” -Neveah Henderson (12) (Cheer Captain). Cheer is also another expression of feelings and emotion through the use of movement. Just as dance, these girls arrive at 6:30am for 5-6 days a week, prioritizing that time to prime their skills for future competitions. Cheer requires a lot of trust in your teammates when performing stunts, creating a selfless environment. Through this mentally challenging task, the physical aspect comes in just as ruthless. Karington Sebastion has been coaching for four years, and is one of the coaches involved with Cheer. Karington went through All-star Cheer for four years and high school cheer for four years, and she is coming up on her fourth year as a college athlete! “Just because the work looks different, doesn’t mean it’s any less brutal or exhausting…these girls put in just as much work” she emphasized.
Through all of the cheers and conditioning, these girls also work on balancing their own lives with the spotlight of being a cheerleader. The hardest of days can leave them injured and exhausted, but the light of success stays clear and prominent. “It takes a lot of hard work, and I don’t think people appreciate how much hard work it really does take,” shared Karington. Cheer holds a special place in all of their hearts. While work is never ending, the experiences gained from Pep Squad develop the girls as a whole. “Cheer is one of my safe places…I can do some of the things I love to do like stunting and flying around in the air, and school work goes away, drama goes away,” shared Payton, cheer co-captain. Our cheerleaders also gain a lot of maturity and sense of self when doing what they love. Cheer includes the use of teamwork and lots of trust to make situations work. Each member must hold themself accountable for certain aspects of routine. “It makes you think more responsibly; you have a team, coach, and school to represent. It’s not like going to school without a sport and doing whatever you want,” said Briana Moe (12), cheer co-captain.
The addition of cheerleading in our school can seem like a small option in our selection of sports, but the layer behind the idea of our team offers a world of fierce grit along with social and mental challenges. Every team has specific skillsets, and the idea of cheerleaders always holding a “preppy” and “smiley” attitude is a stereotype that bothers the community. As with any sport, these girls are individuals at the end of the day too, every single one of them is dedicated to their craft.
PEP SQUAD UNITED:
These two amazing teams come under the advisory of Mrs. Schive, our pep squad advisor. Mrs. Schive has been coaching at Poly for five years and coached previously at Gage for nine years. Throughout high school, she was intertwined with the dance team and twirled baton growing up, starting from the age of two! She establishes events and communicates with parents to coincide with the busy routines of pep squad. Her love for her two teams she oversees is pure and powered through her undying passion for the sport. “I’ve never had anything but dance, it’s always been my mindset; If you can’t do something right away, keep working at it,” she highlighted. Pep squad seasoning begins with football season through the first semester, leading into competition season within the spring. “I love the Football season for the Friday night lights and cheers on the field, and the spring season seeing the girls on the dance floor after working so hard with the routines from August to February,” Schive shared. With the ending of the first semester, cheer transitions into stunt season for second semester.
Stunt includes jumps, tumbling pyramids, and more. “I love stunt because it’s so competitive, it feels like a battle when they take the floor, I love all of them,” said Schive. Our cheer and song teams work excruciatingly hard to achieve their goals and replicate new dances and cheers. The work of these girls should never go unnoticed, what they do in their everyday lives in the spirit of our school and their identity. Members of the team shared that sometimes the have knee problems, hurt their backs and ankles.” Despite the conditions our dancers are put through, their passion for the sport never fades. Being a part of the team has shaped the mindset of their individuality, for the good or the greater. Regarding the future of Pep Squad, Mrs. Schive vocalizes her intentions on “making the dance team better each year” as she loves to see her girls grow as dancers, and individuals.
Mrs. Schive emits her message of aspects that are not looked into enough when regarding Pep Squad. “These girls put in a lot of work and I think that it’s not seen very often. I want them to value the time they put into it and realize that they are not just cheerleaders or dancers on the sidelines, they have to have skills of stunting and dancing. These girls deserve more recognition for the enormous amount of time and dedication they put in,” shared Schive. On behalf of the coaches, “all of us have a huge passion for the sport. We have that passion for teaching kids and watching them grow, with moments where they are learning something new on the Football field or gym floor performing. Watching them shine and seeing that final moment coming together is what we live for,” Schive said. Pep Squad is such a unique idea and sport to develop skills in. Once you arrive, you’ll most likely never want to go back. It’s a symbol of dedication, character development, and memories. After their run for National Champions last year, our team has big things in store.
Thank you Pep Squad, for everything you do for our school. We see you and appreciate all your hard work!