This cheer season marks year two of the WHS cheer team taking on a new coach in Liz Kampschroeder. Since she took over for the 2023-24 school year, there have been many changes.
The main goal they have this year is “to be more cohesive than we were last year,” Kampschroeder said.
There have been rules implemented for everyone on the team to follow the same expectations and rules as everyone else, even though the team is diversely made up of new cheerleaders and girls who are more experienced that have been practicing since they were young. They are equally encouraged to work hard and be kind to one another.
This summer the girls have been in the gym continuously and practicing regularly for the upcoming cheer season. All of the hard work at the gym and long hours at practice seemed to pay off at the first official football game of the season on Thursday, Aug. 29. The girls worked hard to hype up the student section and make a good first impression as a new and improved team.
“I think they did great (during the first game),” Kampschroeder said. “We’ve trained all summer in the gym to be strong and their uniforms always look amazing.”
The hard work in the gym and on the mat this summer created a new system for the girls to grow into and a more comfortable environment when performing in front of an audience.
The changes thus far have improved the cheerleaders’ confidence as individuals and as a group. “I really think we showed up and showed out,” Madi Mummery (12) said. “It was a sad loss for the football players, but we had so much fun cheering for them.”
The ability to stay motivated to keep the crowd’s spirit up, even through a loss, is what makes a cheer team so important during the football season. There are lots of ways to keep team morale and motivation up.
“I think motivation is leading by example and if they don’t see us motivated, if they don’t see us prepared, then they’re not going to come motivated or prepared, so we try to walk the walk and then put it back to them and ask them ‘What do you guys need to feel motivated?’ and then try to hold them to that,” Kampschroeder said.
During the summer the team really worked on seeking help with issues through speaking with their coaches and being able to figure out the solutions for those issues while keeping it “off the matt,” Mummery explained.
When looking at the cheer team two years ago, and then looking at it now, it’s clear that there have been many changes and improvements following Kampschroeder coming in and taking on the team.
Kampschroeder said, “I think every year is individual and every year is different and I wouldn’t have traded anything that happened last year, the good and the challenging.”
From the cheerleader perspective, the changes have been immense and productive as well.
“Probably just like a lot more team bonding … because if you’re not close with your team or you can’t trust your team, you’re not going to get very far,” Mummery said. “(There’s) more care for our mental health … our coaches are trusted adults to talk to. If we are having problems, they do have our backs, especially towards other students.”
The future is looking good for the cheer team this year, with some of the biggest goals being nationals and state, according to Meredith Giezen (10).
“I’m probably most excited to see where we can go and hopefully go to nationals, but I know that’s a big goal and it takes a lot of hard work so hopefully everyone is very committed and will put in the time and effort to do so,” Mummery stated.
If Kampschroeder were to describe the team this year using one word, she’d say “better.” She explained that every practice, they break off with the word better. The team has been practicing hard and growing stronger with the desire to be better each practice, each game and each year.
