The cheerleaders here at South are practicing hard this winter for all of their competitions. A new addition to their Monday practices is the middle school competitive Red Barons cheer team, including girls from both Brownell and Pierce. Although the middle schoolers do not compete with South’s cheer team, the competitions they attend follow the same rules and regulations as the Varsity girls’ competitions according to cheer coach Ashley Gerbi.
“I have 20 girls on the middle school team. They all attend Monday practice and work with me,” Gerbi said.
The Varsity cheerleaders seem to be a big inspiration to these younger girls according to Madison Kvintus ‘22.
“They are always looking over at us when we practice our routines and tumbling. It feels good to know that they look up to us,” Kvintus said.
The middle schoolers started coming to these practices in November and have been there every Monday since according to Kvintus. For the other days of the week, they practice at Pierce or Trombly.
“Seeing the Varsity girls gives them something to work for and opens their eyes to what a competitive sport cheerleading is it requires a lot of hard work and is not what people think of when they think cheerleading,” Gerbi said.
According to middle school student Connie Bedsworth ‘25, it’s fun to practice in the same gym as South’s cheerleaders and makes her want to cheer in highschool.
“The older girls are really good at cheering and are fun to watch,” Bedsworth said.
According to Kvintus it’s nice that the middle schoolers get a chance to compete while they’re young because it gives them a lot of experience before high school if they decide to compete.
“Cheer is a sport that anyone can do but it takes time to build the skills,” Gerbi said. he more experience they get the better off they are”