Don’t be fooled by the glitz and glam of the Cathedral cheerleaders. These girls have worked hard all season to cheer on the football team and perfect their routines. Their duties don’t end there though, they also cheer at many school events and try to elevate school spirit daily.
Beginning in July, the cheer team started practicing multiple times a week. They go to Palm Springs for camp during the summer to kick off their season. Their Head Coach, Shandy Carlson, says, “Our team starts practicing in July, and every week the stunts get more difficult as our strength increases.” Their season is very long due to yearlong sideline cheer and competition teams. They spend a lot of time together, so unity is very important to the cheer team and they do a lot of team bonding to achieve it. Senior Julia Walton, a captain on the team, says that her favorite part of cheerleading is the community and how it brings people together.
To ensure perfection in their performances, they make sure to be fully prepared every game day. Senior Captain Sarah Brown explains how they hired choreographers this year to elevate their game. The full-day preparation helps the girls get ready for performing under the lights. Senior Captain Julia Walton also touches on their game day by saying how they “get to school at 3, then have dinner as a team at 3:30.” Following this, the girls all go to head Coach Carlson’s room and get ready together before the game.
Their head coach, Shandy Carlson took the job in the 2019-2020 season. She explains that it is a non-stop job, but “so worth it”. She has been coaching since 1999 and has noticed a huge change in the cheerleaders and programs as the years have gone on. Since cheer was made an official sport in 2017, many athletes have become super dedicated to cheer as the sport has grown more competitive. To keep up with the competition, Coach Shandy looks to her senior captains Sarah, Julia, Anneliese, and Stella to lead warm-ups, organize routines, and be role models for the younger girls.
The Holy Bowl is taking place on October 26 and is the senior night for football and cheer. Sarah Brown says, “The captains were in charge of creating the senior night halftime routine.” The seniors are super excited for their special night and cherish the memories the cheer program has given them throughout high school. They also look forward to their Christmas practice where they are surprised by their coaches with a party at a random practice. They celebrate Christmas with food, games, and bonding before Christmas break. In the spring, they compete in an Anaheim tournament and spend three days at Disneyland. This is a lot of the girls’ favorite trip of the season.
Once football season comes to an end, the cheer team will shift their focus to CIF and competition season. In the 2021-2022 season, the girls won CIF, and hope to repeat that. Until then they are going to keep working hard to make sure they hit their halftime routines week after week.
