Tomahawk reporter, Katie Reeves caught up with cheerleaders Brilynn Hobson, Gracie Tidwell, and Olivia Smith. Here are their conversations and Katie’s follow up interview with Coach Allen.
Brilynn Hobson
Reeves: Have you seen growth from when you first started, if so, how do you think you grew?
Hobson: Yes, I do believe I’ve grown significantly as a cheerleader over the years. I’ve grown definitely in my confidence since I first started, cheer has broken me out of my shell and made me become a super outgoing person.
Reeves: What made you choose your sport and how did you get started?
Hobson: The reason I chose cheer way back in elementary school was honestly just because I thought the uniforms were super pretty, but thankfully I stayed in cheer and realized it was worth much more than just the pretty bows and uniforms.
Reeves: What does a good teammate mean to you?
Hobson: To me a good teammate is somebody who’s patient even when there is a lot going on around them, and someone who is kind not only to the people in the team, but to those around them.
Reeves: What’s the biggest challenge you have faced cheer and how did you overcome it?
Hobson: Advice that I would give somebody thinking about joining cheer is: absolutely do it! Make sure you smile and that you practice your cheer emotions in the mirror, and overall just be confident in whatever work you’re producing.
Gracie Tidwell
Reeves: Have you seen growth from when you first started, if so how do you think you grew?
Tidwell: Yes, I’ve seen so much growth since! first started. I’ve become a cleaner dancer, learned to smile more, and i’ve become more confident in myself as a cheerleader!
Reeves: What made you choose your sport and how did you get started?
Tidwell: I first started cheering when I was in fourth grade, and I think it was because I had always looked up to cheerleaders. I thought they were the coolest people ever.
Reeves: What does a good teammate mean to you?
Tidwell: To me, a good teammate is kind, encouraging, and works well with others. It’s so important to have these qualities when you’re in a team sport like cheer.
Reeves: What’s the biggest challenge you have faced cheer and how did you overcome it?
Tidwell: The hardest challenges I’ve faced were confidence and stunts for sure. l overcame them by a lot of practice and a positive mindset.
Olivia Smith
Reeves: Have you seen growth from when you first started, if so how do you think you grew?
Smith: I think that there’s been growth because when I started in 8th grade, I was nervous and didn’t really know what I was doing. Now I’ve grown a lot in confidence as well as skill.
Reeves: What made you choose your sport and how did you get started?
Smith: I started because I wanted to try something new and out of my comfort zone. I ended up really enjoying it, so i’ve done it every year since then.
Reeves: What does a good teammate mean to you?
Smith: To me a good teammate is someone you can rely on and who is a positive person, because in cheer keeping a good positive environment is important.
Reeves: What’s the biggest challenge you have faced cheer and how did you overcome it?
Smith: I think stunting was probably one of my biggest issues at the start, but I got better just by working on it as much as possible and making sure to communicate with the others in my stunt group.
Coach Liza Allen was asked corresponding questions.
Reeves: Have you seen growth within the team since you started coaching it, if so how come?
Allen: We have had growth in both numbers and skill
Reeves: What’s the biggest challenge in training a cheer team?
Allen: For everybody to get along.
Reeves: How do you handle athletes with different skill set?
Allen: You just have to make adjustments and try to put each person where their best skill is because it is different for everybody for some people it is tumbling, for some people is stunting, some people is cheering, its all different.
Reeves: What valves do you try to instill your athletes beyond cheerleading?
Allen: Good morals and values–just being good people and always being kind.