This school year has been part of an unpresented and unique time, especially for sports teams. Many changes are visible for the season, such as football players wearing masks during practice or soccer players setting up extra chairs behind the bench to make room for social distancing. Other changes for sports such as cheerleading, not as noticeable from the bleachers.

“The biggest change would be having to wearing masks while performing stunts,” said varsity football cheerleading coach Ally Stein. “It takes a little bit more time and makes us less effective than I’d like to be because of how short the timeouts or in-between quarters is.” 

“The biggest obstacle has truly been recording our routines for state competitions,” said Stein. “[The girls] must come in everyday prepared to throw a flawless routine because we are recording every practice.” 

“The biggest thing that is different this year is that we are not really allowed to move out of our game spots,” Senior All-State cheerleader Gabby Mullins said. “We have to try our best to stay super spread out which is different than other years.” 

Stein says that the girls’ families have been such a huge help in helping navigate during this strange time.  

“We have overcome so much adversity in COVID-19 restrictions, injuries, and virtual competitions,” said Stein. “The girls and their families have been so flexible and supportive with our new rules.” 

Stein commended her athletes for being able to come together and really work during this hard time.  

“They’ve done really good at coming in everyday with a new mindset,” said Stein. “We got 9 great routines done in 5 practices which is incredible. They did really well with masks, injuries, and close contacts.” 

The football cheerleading team also went on with varsity to win 2nd in state and JV to win 5th despite the hurdles that Stein described.