2012 Football Cheerleading

     The 2012 Football Cheerleading squad for Rockford Senior High School has improved considerably since last year. I interviewed Kendra Ringham, a 3-year returning veteran to the squad and future captain of the 2013 squad, and Mikayla Engels, a third party observer of the squad who did not go out for fall sports, so she would have extra time to attend games and witness how the squad was doing. Kendra Ringham said that she would like to continue cheering after high school, but she is not attending a college that offers a cheer squad. She says that she will miss, “Getting people excited for the game at pep rallies,” the most about cheerleading. She feels that cheerleading is a good activity to participate in because you can get the crowd riled up. Kendra has learned that you can make a lot of friends through cheerleading. As future captain, Kendra tells younger cheerleaders who are trying out, “You are going to be nervous during try outs, just be smiley and have confidence.” 

     I asked Mikayla Engels, who was our third party observer, how she would rate the 2012 Football Cheer Squad on a scale of one to ten. She replied with, “Seven, because there was a lot of cheerleaders who were enthusiastic and they knew the cheers.” She said that Rockford Senior High would be missing something without cheerleading because we would have absolutely no school spirit and no homecoming games to participate in. She said, “The best part of the homecoming festivities this year was when the king candidates’ moms kissed them, it was hilarious.” Mikayla feels that the squad has improved since last years because the cheerleaders seemed more serious about it. She also said that the cheerleaders made the football games more enjoyable for her because she got to make fun of Sabrina Dow.