Seeking the Spotlight

BRENNA DUPRIES | OCT. 24, 2019 | SPORTS

As the Stanton College Preparatory School cheerleading team walked up to the blue mat during the semi-finals at the Universal Cheerleaders Association’s National championship in February, the crowd screamed with anticipation. When they began their routine, 16 cheerleaders, in authentic Stanton blue and white performed in front of an audience of hundreds. As their performance came to an end, the squad celebrated this extremely challenging accomplishment among themselves, but back at home no one seemed to notice. Due to the cheerleading team’s ambiguous status, they struggle to be recognized as a sport even while putting in countless hours of work.

Across America, cheerleading is often overlooked because it walks the fine line between club and sport. According to the National Collegiate Athletic Association, “Varsity cheerleading teams are not covered by the NCAA catastrophic policy because cheerleading is not a sport for which the NCAA provides or enforces rules.”

Since June 6, 2008, the Florida High School Athletic Association has recognized competitive cheer as an official interscholastic sport, launching their first year of cheer competitions held by the association, however cheering for a high school sports team is not.

Although competitive cheer is considered a sport in the state of Florida, the Stanton cheer team’s weekly routine of cheering on the side-lines classifies them as a club. In Duval County Public Schools the cheerleading team does not count towards Title IX, a law passed in 1972 that helps create an equal opportunity environment for sports in public school systems.

“Although I believe cheer is a sport, on paper in Duval County it is normally bunched in with the clubs,” said Mr. Christopher Crider, the athletic director at Stanton. “I think whomever in the district is scared that if cheer is added to gender equity [Title IX] and is officially made a sport, the team will have 100 cheerleaders because there are 100 football players.”

This struggle between sport and club in and around the district causes problems for the Stanton cheer team. They are often looked at as a sport when they are winning or participating in competitions, but as a club when it comes to finances. When looking through the lens of a normal Stanton student, the cheer team only visibly participates in activities that would make cheer a club.

“I see them on game days, at football games and at pep-rallies,” said sophomore Isabella Gandy. “We [students] collectively see the cheerleaders when they are supporting other teams and participating in the stereotypical ‘cheerleader’ activities.”

The image surrounding the cheer team forms students’ opinions around campus. Stereotypes play into that image of the typical cheerleader. In today’s society, overcoming stereotypes is difficult for anybody, especially the longstanding ones that follow the term “cheerleader” around.

“People think cheerleaders are popular, ditsy girls who wear short skirts and don’t have a lot of sense,” said senior Nataley Guetherman. “But that is definitely not true of every cheerleader, especially at Stanton.”

The Stanton student body faces the question of whether cheer is to be considered a sport or a club at Stanton, and these stereotypes can play into the formation of opinions. The decision is sometimes made unconsciously by each and every individual. Opinions are formed and the cheer squad is left to reap the consequences. 

“I do not consider cheer a sport,” said junior Aiden Laurie. “It is not in the Olympics so therefore I don’t think it qualifies”

Opinions like these make cheerleading appear inferior when compared to other sports. The team does not receive as much praise as swim or football for their accomplishments, which upsets Stanton’s cheerleaders, especially when they spend countless hours practicing. As the only athletic activity which has a season that lasts the whole year, cheerleaders seemingly never get a break.

“I most certainly think cheer is underappreciated as a sport at Stanton,” said sophomore cheerleader Cydne Woodley. “As a team we spend between 4-7 hours practicing and we are expected to practice for another few hours at home each day. I personally end up spending around 28 hours of my time, each week, practicing for cheer.”

         This opinion is shared by many cheerleaders but is also supported, in part, by the Stanton Varsity cheer coach Holly Koonce. Appreciation does not lack throughout the deafening cheers at pep-rallies but once students take that step outside of the gym everything seems to change.

“After making it to semi-finals at UCA’s Nationals last year, for the first time in the Stanton Cheerleading’s history, we found phenomenal support among the staff and administration at Stanton but less was noticed from the student body,” said Ms. Koonce “Students cheer at pep-rallies so loudly you cannot hear our music, which is amazing however, I do not think the students know or appreciate the hard work put in year-round by the cheerleaders.” 

Although, the Stanton Cheerleading team does in fact participate in competitions, the school only gets to witness a small part of what the cheer team does.

“We spend a lot of our time practicing for competitions; they are the main activity we participate in,” said sophomore Campbell Miller, a varsity cheerleader. “We do attend football and basketball games but that is not all we do. Competitions are the focus for the cheer team.”

The Stanton cheer team participates in official competitions across Florida throughout the school year and practices for these competitions all summer. Last year they took part in eight competitions across the state and will do the same this up-coming season.

As the cheer team prepares for upcoming local competitions at Baldwin, Creekside, Menendez, and West Nassau as well as state competitions, Ms. Koonce is confident this year’s young team can improve upon its past successes and gain more appreciation from the student body.