“Ooh! Aah! You wish you were a wildcat!” was all that was heard on the home side of Whitney High’s football stadium. Standing down on the track near the sidelines were those well known maroon skirts and bright gold, glittery pom poms shaking as they led the famous chant. As halftime rolled around the cheer squad made their way onto the field. They wowed the crowd with their complex routine and impressive stunts.

“I really love to perform out on the football field because it just feels like home to me,” varsity captain Rylee Smith said. It’s so good just to be able to cheer for my peers and my teachers and family.”

But the Monday after the big game, it’s back to work. Practices that go on for at least three hours get these cheerleaders sweaty and exhausted. With this year’s new competition squad, the cheerleaders need to work hard and be committed to their squad. The freshman, JV and varsity squads have all decided that their main goal for the year is to simply try their best. They all agreed that it is difficult to keep tempers low when stress is high.

“There’s a lot of girls, and it gets very hectic,” JV cheerleader Haley Nyal said.

But this stress does not stop these girls from being super close.

“We’re like sisters; we go to each other for like everything. We’re one big family,” Smith said.

“Cheer is my passion. It’s something I love to do and something I can honestly say I’m good at,” JV captain Kelsey Singleton said.

by DESIREE STONE