by Sydney Garrett, staff reporter
The Roar spoke with senior Mackenzie Morgan to discuss the oft-overlooked multidimensional qualities of cheerleading.
What is your background with cheerleading?
I started taking just tumbling classes at PowerSports when I was in kindergarten, and I saw the competitive team cheering there. And that’s kind of how I got into cheerleading. When I was in first grade, I joined the competitive team with Thunder Elite. And I just stuck with competitive cheering. When I was in middle school, I joined the cheer team and was captain both seventh and eighth grade. Then, in high school, I was captain of the freshmen and JV team. So it’s just something that has been a part of my life since the beginning. It’s been a constant force for me.
When did you decide to pursue cheerleading?
Well, I started out dancing, like every little girl dances, but [cheering] is something that’s a little more difficult. It requires stamina. You have to be in shape, and you have to have the mentality to do it. It’s something that just challenges me in a different way. And it keeps me interested and keeps me pushing.
You mentioned that you’re not doing competitive cheer this year. So, what are you doing instead?
This year I’m coaching. So now I am in the other position where I get to train and watch other cheerleaders grow and see the challenges that I went through.
How has coaching changed your perspective on being a cheerleader?
Coaching makes me realize that really listening to whoever is in authority makes a big difference. If someone asks me to be quiet here at the high school, it makes me want to listen more because coaching when other athletes don’t listen, it really frustrates me. So, it makes me respect our captains and our coaches a lot more.
What are your responsibilities as a senior cheerleader?
As a senior, we’re supposed to be the models for everyone below us. We need to be the first ones to do whatever the captains say and take initiative. If the captains have to be out of place, we take their positions if they have other responsibilities during practice. And we just have to make sure that the other girls are listening to the coaches and captains as well.
What is the job of a cheerleader?
Just to not be goofing around. We want to take our brand as a Tiger cheerleader seriously. We don’t want to be made fun of or have the student body think that we’re a joke. We want to make it so that we’re encouraging all of our clubs and all of the sports. We want to be taken seriously. I think that we are here to show the school spirit, not just through sports, but through everything that our school has to give to its students.
How has Coach Mitchell changed the cheerleading program?
What we’ve done since Mitchell has come into the program is during pep rallies we don’t focus on just football. We make sure that as many clubs in our school are recognized at certain events like that, so we don’t just focus on sports. Mitchell makes us realize that we are figures of our high school. We need to represent ourselves well. She’s also taken the school cheerleading to a different level; we are more focused on the sidelines, doing our job, and not talking. We also do more community activities, where we go out in the community and spread our name and spread the high school’s name.
What sort of time commitment goes into cheerleading?
We have practices every day during the period, and then Monday and Wednesdays until 5:30. We have volleyball games on Tuesdays and football games on Fridays. Sometimes we don’t get home until one in the morning. Having that and trying to keep up with my grades in AP classes and honors classes is a lot of stress, but it is worth it when you see how much we’ve improved in these past couple years with the different time dedication that we’ve made.
How does cheerleading fit into your list of priorities?
Well, school is number one for me. It’s really important for me because I am trying to get into A&M, and I want to have a college degree. So, after practices I don’t usually watch TV or get on my phone or the internet. I sit down and just do my homework. I also work, so after practices I go to work until 8:30 or 9. I’m up pretty late into the night trying to do homework and study.
Do you ever consider if it would be easier for you if you weren’t in cheerleading?
For me, I think its better for me to be involved and to stay busy. It keeps me on top of everything that I have to get done. If I wasn’t as busy, I would think, “Oh, I have time to complete that,” and I would wait until the last minute.
Is it ever hard to be that ideal peppy cheerleader?
All the time. If I’m having a bad day and I don’t necessarily want to be the happiest person in the world, it is difficult. But the coaches and the other girls on the team really encourage me. They say that it’s okay. Just brush it off and put a smile on my face. They also help me get through whatever is making that day a little worse. If I’m tired, they’ll buy me a cookie at lunch, I don’t know. They’re just really sweet about that. We’re really big on family in cheer leading. We go eat lunch on the weekends, we’ll hangout. We go play sand volleyball sometimes. We’re super close.
Do people ever treat you differently because you’re a cheerleader?
I think there is a stereotype. If you don’t get to know the cheerleaders at your school, you definitely just take off what you know from movies that we’re just a bunch of girls in short skirts on the sidelines yelling randomness. But if you get to know us, we’re really here to support school spirit. We do get catty, but we’re all very involved in the school, and we’re all very smart. We take part in all kinds of higher up classes. I wouldn’t say we’re the dumb blonde cheerleaders that a lot of people think.
How do you react if someone makes a negative comment about cheerleading?
We just do our best to do the opposite of what the stereotype is. If someone makes a comment about it, we just brush it off and try even harder. We don’t want to let those things get to our head. I’m not thinking about it all the time, but people do make comments. Like, “Oh, you’re just a cheerleader, who cares what you say.” But I have developed a characteristic that I want to defend my beliefs, and I want to defend that I am smart enough and that I have common sense. I don’t want to be taken less seriously because I am a cheerleader.
So, how do you react to comments like that?
We just take it humbly. If someone makes a comment, we say, “Okay that’s what you believe.” We don’t want to be rude to anybody. But, sometimes it’s hard to hear.
What is your favorite part of cheering?
Aside from practices, which can always be really entertaining, football games are my favorite. Football games and pep rallies. It’s just the atmosphere that our school brings to them makes them very exciting. When we’re cheering and we get the feedback from the roar of the crowd; it’s just a really great atmosphere.
