As basketball season comes to a close, so does the cheer season, and with it the high school cheer careers of the squad’s senior captains Aly Frydman, Korie Reed and Cali Brasseur. All three have been cheering on the squad since sophomore year and have given much of their time and spirit to the school and it’s sports.
“We make signs every week for as many sports as possible,” senior captain Korie Reed said. “We try to support all of the sports and the school and get people riled up at assemblies and games.”
It’s not just about making signs and performing at assemblies, though. These cheerleaders devote most Friday nights, and sometimes even Tuesday nights, to cheer at football and basketball games.
“We also make appearances at other games,” senior captain Aly Frydman said. “For big games we go to the player’s houses and decorate them and make signs.”
The three captains are close, much like the bond that the squad forms.
“When you spend that much time together and go to camp together and are together all the time you make some good friends,” Frydman said.
Though gymnastics is a sport in high school, the Kansas State High School Activities Association does not consider cheer a sport. The squad practices three or four times a week at school for two hours, but finding the time can be difficult. Even though they invest much of their time, people don’t appreciate that investment.
“Cheer is different because it isn’t considered a sport,” senior captain Cali Brasseur said. “It is harder for us to practice because it conflicts with other sports’ practices, but at the same time it is just as important as the other sports because they depend on us to support them and get the student body involved.”
While the sports depend on the cheerleaders for support, the cheerleaders depend on these captains for instruction. The squad and the coaches voted on the captains at the beginning of the year.
“As captains we have a lot more responsibilities and actually make decisions for the squad,” Brasseur said. “We make decisions about what we wear and help with the performances and routines.”
Having so many practices and so many responsibilities doesn’t leave these captains to have a lot of free time.
“Most of the year I’m doing two different sports,” Frydman said. “Which limits the social life I can have. When I do gymnastics I’m here from the beginning of the school day until nine, with only an hour break.”
Though the girls’ busy schedule of practices and games may cut into their free time, it helps when the squad is close.
“The closer you get with people on the squad the better it is,” Frydman said. “I think that goes for most things you do: the more people you meet in it and the more involved you are makes it a better experience.”
Reed agrees.
“It’s all about relationships.”
