In late March, a select group of W.F. West students get butterflies and start to worry about how loud their voice is and how high they can jump. These are the spirited individuals who represent our school and give our sports players support throughout the year: our cheerleaders.

Two students from each second period class and varsity basketball and football players crowd into the gym to attend the annual cheerleader and mascot tryouts. The tension levels are high, bleachers are Ūlled, and all eyes are focused. The candidates enter rallying, perform a common cheer, then do a dance routine they make up with other candidates. Finally, they must rally the crowd as they exit. The crowd votes on their performance, spirit, attitude and technique. The positions are selected from evaluations of the crowd and coaches.

During the summer, the cheerleaders head to Central Washington University for a week of group bonding, and preparation for the coming cheer year. While at camp the cheerleaders meet other devoted individuals from different schools and learn the basics of cheering and how to be confident in front their peers. The cheerleaders come back from camp with the confidence needed and a book full of cheers. "At camp you learn at a really fast pace; your skills develop quickly," said Sherryl Ketchum, varsity football cheerleader.

What will it cost?

Cheering is not a cheap activity. Cheer camp is $200. Special clothing is also required so the entire squad matches. The uniforms range from $300-$350. "I've spent over a thousand dollars on cheerleading," said Amanda Carss, varsity basketball cheerleader. They do have some fund raisers such as car washes, selling pizza, fashion shows and an auction.

Players' feelings

During games, the cheerleaders must lead the crowd in supporting the team. "I think cheerleaders help a lot, especially at away games where you don't have a crowd. They always support you, whether you are winning or losing," said senior basketball player John McCroskey. Senior fan Trevor Wheeler feels their role is very important, "without them there would be no spirit." However ,Wheeler does feel they sometimes get in the way, but is quick to point out that they are only doing their job.

Some sports, like soccer, don't have cheerleaders. Senior soccer player Steve Papineau feels that having cheerleaders at his games wouldn't be as supportive as a large crowd. "Organized cheers don't get my adrenaline pumping like a large crowd does," said Papineau.

Is cheering a sport?

Cheering takes the place of sports for many cheerleaders. "It takes a lot of time away from other things, like sports, but it's worth it," said Fairfield. Petersen agreed "People don't think we work hard, but it is harder than it appears. We actually work as hard as other sports do." Plancich feels they don't get the credit they deserve, especially the JV cheerleaders. "They have three games a week and they have to learn both basketball and wrestling cheers," she said.

Stereotypes

Some people have preconceived notions about cheerleaders' personalities and behaviors. "The worst part is the mental abuse from people and the physical abuse from practice. People think we should be tall, thin, and blond; there is no such thing as a perfect cheerleader," said Raquel Carss. She also feels "the ditsy stereotype is untrue, we have to get a certain GPA or we are off the team. A lot of the girls are smarter than people in general."

It has been said that mimicking is the greastest form of flattery but some cheerleaders disagree. " I hate it when people make fun of us and act like cheerleaders but don't even do the cheers right," said Petersen.

Varsity wrestling cheerleader Angela Davis said she was made fun of by[a teacher]. " I was very disappointed with [a teacher's] judgement about cheerleading because teachers are our "so-called" roll models. For [a teacher] to insult not just me, but what I do for my school is wrong" said Davis.

Chehalis, Centralia collaborate

The W.F. West and Centralia cheerleaders will collaborate a half time dance routine during the boy's basketball game held at W.F. West's gym. The squads will practice together which may prove to be difficult. "They dance a lot different from us, their moves are really choppy, like cheers, ours are more jazzy," said Plancich

Click here to see: Profile of a Cheerleader