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They instruct. They counsel. They patch up scrapes and bruises. Then bust a move in between.
It’s all part of the daily agenda for each of the eight middle school cheerleading coaches who, with their teams, wrapped up three days of activity Wednesday at the Mesa County Junior Cheer Association’s annual summer camp held at Canyon View Park.
“Hopefully we can get a superior ribbon at evaluations,” said Mount Garfield Broncos coach Sage Wethington of the team’s short-term goal said the third-year coach.
The blue ribbon’s a tangible goal Wethington has for the 28-member team. That, Wethington said, barely scratches the surface of her tasks as the Broncos’ head coach.
“When people think of cheerleading, they might just think of wearing a skirt and jumping around on the sidelines. That is not what (cheerleading) is,” she explained.
“Its a lot of hard work to learn all these cheers and all these dances. They stand out in the hot sun for hours. We’re working seven to eight hours a day, nonstop. People think (cheerleading’s) such an easy sport. There’s a lot of risk involved. It takes a lot of focus. People don’t realize how much hard work there is for these girls.”
For Wethington it means jumping right in with her team.
“The most important thing that I do at camp is that my girls know the cheers and the dances,” she said. “I actually try to learn all the routines, so I know them in my head. That’s a lot to learn.
“If I know it, it’s not just telling (the girls): ‘Do this. Do that.’ I can actually show them that this motion looks like this and this comes next. So I think it is important that I do learn it, because sometimes they can’t remember it.”
Camp is important. Yet, that’s just a small piece of middle school cheerleading.
Teams are chosen at individual tryouts at each District 51 middle school in May. Team practices are held throughout the summer and after school lets out for the day from August to October.
Middle school cheer teams perform and root on four separate teams (fifth grade, sixth grade, lightweight, heavyweight) representing their middle school at league games held on Saturdays at Canyon View. A team’s season runs for eight to 12 weeks, depending on the success of each has in the postseason playoffs.
Wethington’s coaching thrust, due to the squad’s ages and abilities, changes on a yearly basis.
“I do have a very young squad,” she said. “I have 28 girls, only six or seven are returners. Most of them are in sixth grade going to seventh grade. Most of them are starting from entry level. I have to teach them everything from jumps to simple motions. We start them from the basics and turning them into a team that’s ready to compete. We’re starting from scratch and building, building, building.”
Part of a team’s building process along with teaching and building on newly acquired cheer skills, Wethington pointed out, is counseling the girls on matters outside the practice realm.
“It’s about half and half. We have everything from boys to school to parents to just about everything,” said the coach. “At this age, (the girls are) very emotional. Sometimes, there’s something outside of practice that’s bothering them, you have to get through that before we can even start.
“I look out for them too. I teach them how to act like young ladies and what’s appropriate and what’s not. I try to be a role model for these girls and teach them what kind of reputation they need to have.”
Those tenets Wethington tries to pass on to her girls have started to take hold.
Last year, the routines the Broncos cheerleaders displayed received applause on and off the football field.
“I think that people start to notice,” Wethington said. “I’ve had people come up to me and say: ‘Wow, I didn’t even know middle school cheerleaders were capable of doing of that.’ We are starting to build up a reputation and people are starting to catch on. We have a lot of talent with these girls.”
While it takes a long time to mold a gaggle of young, raw, anxious young teenage girls into a team, Wethington tackles the challenge with a smile and love for her girls.
I do think it takes a special person (to be a coach),” she said. “But I get something out of it too. Especially, at the end of the year, when you see the looks on their faces at competition when you see their proud of something that they’ve worked so hard for. They’re proud to call themselves a Broncos cheerleader, and I’m proud of that too.
“Coaching’s not just about cheerleading and the skirt. We are teaching these girls fundamental things that are going to help them for life: Working with other people. Being on time. Being disciplined. Working hard when you don’t want too and teamwork. That goes with your job and your family. You just have to push through it and work for the bigger goal.”
It’s all part of the daily agenda for each of the eight middle school cheerleading coaches who, with their teams, wrapped up three days of activity Wednesday at the Mesa County Junior Cheer Association’s annual summer camp held at Canyon View Park.
“Hopefully we can get a superior ribbon at evaluations,” said Mount Garfield Broncos coach Sage Wethington of the team’s short-term goal said the third-year coach.
The blue ribbon’s a tangible goal Wethington has for the 28-member team. That, Wethington said, barely scratches the surface of her tasks as the Broncos’ head coach.
“When people think of cheerleading, they might just think of wearing a skirt and jumping around on the sidelines. That is not what (cheerleading) is,” she explained.
“Its a lot of hard work to learn all these cheers and all these dances. They stand out in the hot sun for hours. We’re working seven to eight hours a day, nonstop. People think (cheerleading’s) such an easy sport. There’s a lot of risk involved. It takes a lot of focus. People don’t realize how much hard work there is for these girls.”
For Wethington it means jumping right in with her team.
“The most important thing that I do at camp is that my girls know the cheers and the dances,” she said. “I actually try to learn all the routines, so I know them in my head. That’s a lot to learn.
“If I know it, it’s not just telling (the girls): ‘Do this. Do that.’ I can actually show them that this motion looks like this and this comes next. So I think it is important that I do learn it, because sometimes they can’t remember it.”
Camp is important. Yet, that’s just a small piece of middle school cheerleading.
Teams are chosen at individual tryouts at each District 51 middle school in May. Team practices are held throughout the summer and after school lets out for the day from August to October.
Middle school cheer teams perform and root on four separate teams (fifth grade, sixth grade, lightweight, heavyweight) representing their middle school at league games held on Saturdays at Canyon View. A team’s season runs for eight to 12 weeks, depending on the success of each has in the postseason playoffs.
Wethington’s coaching thrust, due to the squad’s ages and abilities, changes on a yearly basis.
“I do have a very young squad,” she said. “I have 28 girls, only six or seven are returners. Most of them are in sixth grade going to seventh grade. Most of them are starting from entry level. I have to teach them everything from jumps to simple motions. We start them from the basics and turning them into a team that’s ready to compete. We’re starting from scratch and building, building, building.”
Part of a team’s building process along with teaching and building on newly acquired cheer skills, Wethington pointed out, is counseling the girls on matters outside the practice realm.
“It’s about half and half. We have everything from boys to school to parents to just about everything,” said the coach. “At this age, (the girls are) very emotional. Sometimes, there’s something outside of practice that’s bothering them, you have to get through that before we can even start.
“I look out for them too. I teach them how to act like young ladies and what’s appropriate and what’s not. I try to be a role model for these girls and teach them what kind of reputation they need to have.”
Those tenets Wethington tries to pass on to her girls have started to take hold.
Last year, the routines the Broncos cheerleaders displayed received applause on and off the football field.
“I think that people start to notice,” Wethington said. “I’ve had people come up to me and say: ‘Wow, I didn’t even know middle school cheerleaders were capable of doing of that.’ We are starting to build up a reputation and people are starting to catch on. We have a lot of talent with these girls.”
While it takes a long time to mold a gaggle of young, raw, anxious young teenage girls into a team, Wethington tackles the challenge with a smile and love for her girls.
I do think it takes a special person (to be a coach),” she said. “But I get something out of it too. Especially, at the end of the year, when you see the looks on their faces at competition when you see their proud of something that they’ve worked so hard for. They’re proud to call themselves a Broncos cheerleader, and I’m proud of that too.
“Coaching’s not just about cheerleading and the skirt. We are teaching these girls fundamental things that are going to help them for life: Working with other people. Being on time. Being disciplined. Working hard when you don’t want too and teamwork. That goes with your job and your family. You just have to push through it and work for the bigger goal.”
