photo credit: Malak Chahboub
For at least the past five years, the school has only offered sideline cheer and didn’t offer a competition cheer squad. However, all the other Olentangy high schools had competition cheer teams. Therefore, the school looks to level the playing field with bringing back the competition cheer team.
The competition cheer team started its season with its first appearance on Oct. 29 for the UCA Ohio regionals following with their first competition on Nov. 12 for the OASSA internationals.
“Coach Salupo and I decided to start a competition team this year due to our athletes’ skill levels. Over the past four years, we have watched our program grow tremendously and feel it is time to showcase that growth on a competitive level,” Competition Cheer Coach Darin Billiter said.
Cheerleaders who participate in sideline cheer were told about the opportunity of having and joining a competition cheer team. Not all the girls who do sideline cheer joined, but the 26 who did are very excited about the opportunity to cheer competitively.
“I’m really excited about seeing how our team places and traveling to different places to represent our school,” senior sideline and competition cheerleader Sidney Figuly said.
The competition cheer team opens many opportunities for cheerleaders who love the sport and want to learn more choreography at higher skill levels. They get to deepen their skill level more than sideline cheer allows them to.
“There are two types of competition cheerleading in high schools: traditional and game day. We are participating in the game day division, where we can showcase our skill development, but also our game day tradition,” Billiter said.
Competition cheer is in many ways vastly different from sideline cheer. Competition cheer is more intense and focuses more on a skills base, whereas, sideline cheer is more focused on getting a crowd excited and supporting other sports teams.
“Sideline cheerleading requires us to be present supporting another athletic program within our school. While skills are involved, our focus is creating a fun atmosphere where all students and families feel a part of the community. Competition cheerleading focuses on showcasing our skills, such as tumbling, jumping and stunting,” Billiter said.
Cheerleaders are judged by their skill for competition cheer. A cheer competition will be an opportunity for the cheerleaders to showcase what they have learned and compete against other teams instead of just cheering for them on the sidelines.
“At competitions, we will compete against several other teams across the state and will be given a score by a panel of judges. A game day routine is three minutes long and will have a band dance, sideline chant, cheer and our fight song,” Billiter said.
To get ready for the first cheer competition, the team practices after sideline cheer practice for about an hour and a half to two hours. The cheerleaders are currently working on different parts of the routine and working on running it all the way through.
“We go over new ripples with the fight song. You have to be a quick learner and catch on quickly because the coaches change the dance every practice. You really have to lock in at practice,” junior competition and sideline cheerleader Alex Montoney said.
With being a new competition cheer team, comes a lot of pressure to compete well, especially with the fact that every other Olentangy school has already had competition cheer teams in years past. The coaches and cheerleaders are both ready to showcase their knowledge.
“We are confident that our cheerleaders’ hard work these past four years will translate well in a competitive setting. We as a coaching staff have a lot of experience working with competition cheer teams, so we understand what judges want to see from a routine,” Billiter said.
The new competition cheer team is ready to start its season off strong and aims to go far this year. They are excited and ready to compete for the sport they love.
