September 16, 2022
Stunts play a big role in competitive cheerleading.For senior Alexis Kelly, she began competitive cheerleading in middle school and continues to pursue it throughout her high school career.
“That’s why I’ve been comp cheerleading since 7th grade,” Kelly said. “Moved gyms a bit, but now he’s rooting for Nor*Cal Elite.”According to Kelly, competitive cheerleading is different than regular high school cheerleading.
“We compete like a 2:32 minute routine full of jumps, tumbling stunts and pyramids, but no real chants or cheers,” Kelly said.
Stunts are a big part of cheerleading for Kelly, and she believes it has influenced her love of the sport. Kelly’s love of stunts morphed into her love of sports in general.
“My middle school was going to stop allowing our cheer team to do stunts, so I decided to go back to middle school and start doing competitive cheerleading,” Kelly said. I wanted to keep doing it because I fell in love with the, and the only way to do that was to cheer for the competition.”
Caty Sergent, a senior, has a side job cheering and plans to cheer for stunts in the spring, but she’s been cheering with Kelley all through high school and enjoys the energy she brings to the team. .
“She comes to practice with a smile on her face and makes practice fun,” Sargent said.
For Kelly, there is a level of trust in cheerleading/stunts that brings everyone together as a team and brings them closer together.
“It’s like a sport that’s really fun and you literally have to trust your teammates with your life, so it’s really nice to be so close with your teammates,” Kelly said.
Sargent doesn’t work directly with Kelly during cheering/stunts, but believes Kelly has a great spirit when it comes to sports.
“Alexis is a really great cheerleader. She’s really dedicated to the sport,” Sargent said. “She puts a lot of time and effort into it and her dedication is really admirable.”
According to Sargent, Kelly has not only competed in school and local stunt/cheer competitions, but she has also traveled out of state.
“She’s been on a few different All-Star teams and has played in a lot of competitions outside of school,” Sargent said. I have traveled to many places.”
Kelly plans to continue cheerleading and hopes to be recognized at the next level of cheerleading.
“I’m not sure about competitive cheerleading, but I would love to get a stunt scholarship in college,” Kelly said.
