Greendale Cheer deals with pandemic

Just like  every other sport, the cheer team has been highly affected by COVID. Going into this season the  girls assumed there would be some uncertainty and changes, and that’s exactly how it has gone so far. 

This year all competitions are being held virtually, there is no cheering at football or basketball games, and most of all they have had shortened practice times which has led to little team chemistry and bonding time. 

There have been multiple challenges with COVID and being in sports and trying to adapt. “Having a stable cheer season is really challenging right now and even school,” junior Gabby Gilbertson said. 

 The motivation is really hard to keep up with considering the team keeps getting let down and nothing seems to be getting better or moving forward. “Some challenges caused by covid are having motivation to do the things we used to do,” sophomore Bailee Johnson said.

Although it’s been really challenging, cheer has also been a way for some of the girls to cope with the pandemic. “It helps me get a break away from everything and spend time with friends,” junior Ally Pankowski said. 

Going to cheer can be a distraction from all that’s going on in the world by doing something you’re passionate about and makes you happy. Being in an environment with your friends who you barely see anymore can be very reassuring and lift a weight off your shoulders. “Cheer has helped me with the pandemic because it gives me some relief that some part of life is semi-normal and I get to do what I love,” junior Caitlin Schuk said. 

Even though cheer is greatly impacted now there are still hopes for the season in spring. “I hope that we can cheer at football games with a student section,” Johnson said. 

 Not being able to have a normal football season was hard for both the football team and cheer team as well as fans. “This spring I’m hoping to be able to have one of my last, which would include cheering at football games,” senior Autumn Prophett said.

Another big changing factor for the cheerleaders has been switching to virtual competitions. “Virtual competitions are better than nothing but lack the excitement and adrenaline rush of competing in front of a crowd.   Local event coordinators have done a good job of producing a final video of all routines so everyone can watch all competitors.  There  are two local events which have some slots for live performances and those have been fun for teams who are allowed to participate.  We will not be competing in any live competitions this season,” Coach Tina said. When competing in person the team goes out on the mat and gives it their all because they only have one shot, whereas for virtual competitions teams can redo the routine as many times as  they want to get the best routine.  “I think the virtual competitions are a lot less fun verses when it’s in person because you can feed off the crowd’s energy,” Pankowski said. 

The girls feel that virtual competitions are less engaging because they are  performing for a camera instead of hundreds of people and that’s something really hard to adapt to considering the main reason cheerleaders train all year is for their competitions. “Virtual competitions are weird when you don’t compete in front of judges. You only do it once and now our coach makes us do it an excessive amount where we get super tired,” Gilbertson said. 

While trying to have a season practice times have been greatly impacted and the girls are unsure about what the next season will hold. “Practices get canceled and rescheduled a lot. It sucks to have to change schedules around all the time,” Schuk said “I think next season is going to impact a lot because the team doesn’t seem to have that bond like we normally get to create because of the chaotic time we are in. But it’s also affecting our skills. We normally get to start right away and build techniques and skills, but everything was so crazy this year. We really missed out on our opportunity to grow as a cheerleader.” 
Next year it will be tough to step up and compete after a season off, just like it’s hard to get back into the swing of anything after taking a break. It’s also difficult having fluctuating practices and not set schuldes because it not only affects the team but also individual’s schedules outside of cheer. “I think it’ll be harder to get where we want to be all the time and just transition from what we are doing this year to next, since with practices this year it’s been hard to adjust to the constant changes of what we can and can’t do depending on the day,” Pankowski said.

There are still hopes to be able to cheer during the football season in spring and hopefully build a better team connection, for now virtual competitions are their main focus even though being virtual has been a big accommodation. The bright side to this all is that they all have each other through all of this and at least have some time to be interacting with each other.