The 2022-2023 Cinco Ranch Cheerleading team is determined to take back their title as State Champions. 30 girls will take the mat facing a panel of judges and performing for thousands of people in a crowd. 

“Cheerleaders are always viewed as little girls on the sidelines cheering for the ‘real sports’, but behind doors they are putting their bodies through strenuous practices to ensure they are in peak condition for their season”. JV Captain Emily Dau said. “They spend hours running their routines over and over again until it is perfect.”

Cheerleaders strive for perfection because like every sport their goal is to win. Cheerleading is viewed as one of the most dangerous sports because of the risky and difficult stunts they do. One wrong move and you can have a broken bone or a head injury. 

”Good technique is so important to keep your bases and top girl safe,” Cheer Coach Shantel Latham said. “Proper technique leads to stunt stability and consistency when bases begin to tire out. One dropped stunt can not only injure an athlete but take your team out advancing to finals or placing at a competition. To me, technique is everything.” 

To be performance ready, cheerleaders need to stay in shape all year. People don’t seem to understand how much conditioning cheerleaders do to have an effortless and beautiful routine. They have 3 minutes to show off all the long hours and hard work that they have been going through since the beginning of the school year.

“Staying in shape and conditioning everyday is important as it helps us keep our stamina up during the routine,” Varsity Captain Cynthia Rodriguez said. “Although a lot of times we complain about it, it’s very beneficial in the long run. After long weeks of conditioning, the routine starts to feel easier which makes us look more confident as we compete.”

Pushing through a routine while tired is difficult. However, the cheerleaders yell words of encouragement before performing to motivate themselves to keep going. The team’s motto is “how bad do you want it” and they shout it  throughout practices and competitions to encourage the girls to work hard for what they want. 

“Before we do a full out we like to make each other laugh because when we laugh we end up doing better,”  Varsity Cheerleader Annie Elmore. “Another thing we do is a chant our seniors yell ‘how bad do you want it’ and we yell back ‘we want it bad.” 

Every practice, Cinco Cheer continues to repeat stunts in preparation for the end goal. However, the bonds they created with each other will help them push through whatever adversity they face.