SHS Cheerleaders Headed to Nationals

This year both the JV and Varsity Cheerleading teams have made it all the way to the National competition that will take place from February 11th to the 12th in Orlando, Florida. This is the first time since 2007 that both of the teams will be competing at Nationals together. After facing many injuries the team managed to work extra hard and accomplish their goal of qualifying for Nationals. Stacy Monteiro, the head of Cheerleading at SHS, was asked how she felt about this season, “I have to say with all of our set backs the teams remained so positive and motivated to never give up and continue moving forward. Although we have had many obstacles to overcome we were lucky enough to qualify for Nationals, returning for the Varsity teams 10th year.

Mariah Genis, a senior and one of the captains of the Varsity team, says that the reason the team is doing so well this year is because of the bonds they have formed over the last two years. Most of the girls on the Varsity team have been together for two years now and Mariah says they have a great team dynamic.

When asked if she was nervous about competing at Nationals Mariah said: “I'm thrilled! To get a chance to compete with some of the best teams in the nation is amazing.” All of the 14 girls on Varsity and the 21 girls on JV will be traveling down south. Some parents and other family members will also be attending the tournament. The teams will be staying at the All Star Resort in Orlando. The competition will last for two days. During those two days the Varsity team will need to compete in two rounds to make it to the finals. They will first compete in the preliminary round and , depending on their performance, the Semifinals and will hopefully make it all the way to the final round. The JV team will only compete in one round at Nationals and will go straight to the Semifinal round. Both teams routines are put to an 80’s music soundtrack.

To qualify for Nationals the two teams had to compete at the Regional competition. The Regional competition was held at Hofstra University on December 5th. To prepare the teams dedicate a huge amount of time to practice. The Varsity and JV teams practice about five days a week for approximately two and a half hours a day. The official season is from fall to winter, but during the spring the teams participate in clinics and in try-outs. In the summer the teams spend a week at Pine Forest Cheer Camp in the Poconos to train for the upcoming season.

We are all cheering for the SHS cheerleaders!