After years of being overlooked and not truly seen as a sport by the school community, the Westminster cheerleading program has finally gained recognition after some new changes.
For decades, the cheerleading program remained focused only on supporting school athletics, until two years ago when the teams began entering competitive events. After the original coach who introduced competitions left Westminster, coaches Sarah Mason and Stephanie Frame returned to tournament participation following a two-year program-building break.
Cheerleaders in competitions are scored on various athletic skills such as jumps, dances, and chants. Mason thinks that competing has allowed the Westminster cheerleading program to steer away from just supporting the football team to now being their own sport.
This year, the Varsity squad attended the Ultimate Grand Cheer Championship, Cheer Classic, and APS Metro Cheer Championship. While they didn’t receive the scores they hoped for, they created a foundation for years to come. Mason believes that based on the feedback they got from judges at competitions, cheerleading at Westminster will evolve and eventually receive better scores each year.
To secure skills needed for the competitions, the JV and Varsity squads go to training camps and skills camps to prepare for the upcoming performances. Varsity attends an NCA cheer camp in the summer to help them with essential skills they will need throughout the year. They have a workshop where they learn what they will be performing throughout the season. Then, the fall season begins directly when school starts and runs through November. The JV squad has one camp that prepares them for their season, which ends in mid-October.
Mason and Frame bring their unique gymnastics and cheer backgrounds to drive the squads to success. Mason was a gymnast until a significant vault injury made her unable to do the sport. After this setback, she decided to do cheerleading at her school and immediately fell in love with the sport. Frame was a competitive cheerleader growing up and also decided to cheer at her school. As a 4th-grade teacher, she loves seeing her past 4th-grade students on the cheer squads. Both coaches enjoy seeing the athletes learn and grow.
The cheerleading program has evolved to align with other sports and to expand opportunities for 9th-12th graders. In the past, 11th and 12th graders would try out for Varsity, and 9th and 10th graders would try out for JV. This year, under the leadership of Mason and Frame, all students from grades 9-12 can now try out for Varsity or JV cheerleading positions for the football season or for a combined cheerleading squad during the basketball season.
9th grader Rikki Scarborough, although initially nervous as a freshman on Varsity, soon found excitement and new friendships throughout the season. This is her first year on Varsity cheer, and she has enjoyed the friends she has made through it, but Scarborough felt uncertain about being the only ninth grader on Varsity. “I was nervous at first and scared, but I do like it a lot,” she says. Though there were some doubts, it all turned out well. Another critical component in cheerleading is teamwork and time commitment, making attendance at every practice important. “If you’re not at practice, we can’t do anything.”
Overall, the cheerleading program at Westminster is constantly evolving. Mason expresses how she feels about the program moving forward. “We are not behind; we are progressing.”