As Homecoming week geared up, the football players were getting hyped, people were signing up for dodgeball and Powder Puff, dressing up, and behind everything going on were the cheerleaders. As the ones who get the crowd going in the football game, who march in the parade and dance and stunt at halftime, the cheerleaders have a lot going on, from decorating lockers to practicing stunts. And on top of all that, there’s a change happening in the squad: Team Leader.
It’s well-known that the cheerleaders have a Cheer Captain, right? Well, not anymore. The Lodi Cheer Team has implemented a new position: Team Leader. When you’re a Team Leader, you might be a Freshman, a Sophomore, a Junior, or a Senior, and you have one or two people equal to you and helping you, as compared to having one Captain doing everything. You make the dance routine for the game that week, and you teach it to the rest of the cheerleaders. Since the Team Leader role started this year, some of the Cheer Team was interviewed on the impact it has had so far, including Mrs. Gort and Addison Woolley. They gave some pretty great insight into why the role of Cheer Captain was changed to Team Leader.
The first person that was interviewed is a cheerleader, a Senior, and has experienced having each kind of director; a Cheer Captain and Team Leaders. Her name is Addison Woolley. When asked why the Cheer Team decided to have Team Leaders instead of a Captain, she thought about it for a moment, then said, “Having a Cheer Captain was more so like having one or two strict leaders, where everybody would look up to those people. But having the Team Leaders thing, where we take turns every week? It gives everybody a voice, where they can actually speak up, and they won’t feel as intimidated giving their opinion.”
The other person who was interviewed is one of the most important members of the Cheer Team, Coach Jill. She was also asked about how implementing the team leaders has affected the team this season. Her response was very open-minded: “The Team Leader idea is something that’s been really positive for the Elkhorn school district. It’s showing kids, even as freshmen, what the responsibility is in that position, and we also hope that, as they experience that role, the smaller kids will understand a little bit more about having empathy for one another, or maybe even just learn to realize when somebody’s struggling and going to help them.”
Throughout the long history of Lodi Cheer, the team has been on the sidelines. They’re always there to celebrate a touchdown or help reassure the team when our rivals win the game. They put up stunts on the fly, dance a carefully practiced routine at half-time to keep the crowd entertained, and they pump us up during pep rallies when the band plays the school song. They represent us with pride and dedication, and they even teach smaller girls who aspire to be cheerleaders, our Little Devil Cheer Team. They’ll grow up to be our next generation of avid cheerleaders, and they’ll all get to experience being respectful, caring, and responsible Team Leaders. The cheerleaders overall have been a big inspiration this year and they hope to keep moving forward.
