Cheerleading is tougher than pom poms

By Laurie Gordon
NEWTON — Cheerleaders are not too difficult to spot on the field or in the gym when it's game time. They get spirits high by pumping up the crowd and stand by their team to pep them up, to pull them up when the team is down and to reward them with shouts and cheers when they do well. At Kittatinny Regional High School, an intense summer camp the squad attended last week kicked off their season, and much more training will go into summer preparation for the fall season.
Cheerleading is not about glamour or a popularity contest as many people perceive. It's hard. The cheerleading team has to undergo vigorous practice sessions and their training involves high risks. The skills involved leaves no doubt that cheerleaders are exceptional athletes. To perform their activities, they must be as strong as any football player, as poised as any dancer and as flexible as the best gymnasts.
For the Kittatinny squad, it started last week at the National Cheerleaders Association's Camp at Rowan University in southern New Jersey.
“Our summer preparation is really important because we learn all our cheers and dances for our football season which are the fundamentals of our whole season,” said Nina Rodriguez, of Layton, who is a senior on the team. ”Most importantly throughout the summer is our biggest bonding period and it really sets the stage for the incoming team. Starting the season off with NCA cheer camp is a significant impact on the team in so many positive ways.”
Similarly to football, there isn't just one coach for cheerleading: there are four. Denise Georges is the head coach for the fall season for the 20th year. She's assisted by Sam Lupo, Karyn Soltis and Amy Ricciardi, and all four coaches gave up summer family time to attend last week's camp.
“Summer training is the foundation for the rest of our season, which formally begins in September and continues through February,” said head coach Georges, “During this time our athletes prepare with weight training, cardio and gymnastics to ensure they are game and competition ready by day one. Preparation not only enhances their ability to perform elite stunts and gymnastic elements, but also acts as a preventive measure against injuries.”
This was the team's fifth year attending the NCA Summer Camp, and the team was recognized with a Technical Excellence Awardin motions. The entire program was nominated for the All-American Team. Senior Brook Wallgren was named tio the All-American team as well as earning top honors as the NCA Top All American (highest scoring cheerleader at camp). She was also selected for the prestigous honor of trying out for the NCA staff. The JV team competed against other JV teams and was named Champion Chant winner as well as overall JV Camp Champions, Varsity also competed against the other teams at camp and was named overall Gametime Camp Cheer Champions. Both teams earned a bid to return to NCA Nationals in January 2016, recognized as a stunt safe team and lastly both teams earn spirit sticks for their enthusiasm, skill and genuine spirit that they showed the entire time at camp.
The camp is the catalyst of momentum for the season. Now that it's over, the team works out twice a week which includes weight training (using free weights and lifting people), cardio workouts and gymnastics training.
“The team will continuing to improve stamina and endurance through repetition and practice of all the material including dances, cheers, stunts and pyramids that were learned at camp,” said Lupo. “Senior practice sessions have been going on all summer but our season officially begins on the first day of school.”
“The most important part of summer preparation is to get the girls all together to practice,” said Brooke Wallgren, a senior on the squad from Stillwater. “We teach material that needs to be known for football games to the younger girls and go from there. Every motion used in a football cheer is the same motion used in a competition routine which we are trying to build to head back to Dallas (the nationals where the team competed and won its group last year). Practice makes perfect and if we don't start now, we'll have a lot of catching up to do before January. We try to get everyone in shape and knowledgeable before heading into the season. If we get a jump start now, it's less to worry about later.”
New this year, the Kittatinny squad will be visiting each of the high school's sending schools (Stillwater Township School, The Fredon Township School, McKeown Elementary School in Hampton and the Sandyston/Walpack School) to build some spirit for the Kittatinny team, show the students what cheerleading is all about and invite the student bodies from each school to attend a Kittatinny football game.
Lupo said, “According to recent research released by Varsity Brands, students with higher levels of school spirit perform better academically, are more civic-ally engaged, and are happier in general than their less-spirited peers. Building and retaining school spirit is an important factor in a school’s success. Spirit sets the stage for success. Research indicates that students with self-reported higher levels of school spirit have greater aspirations for success. Creating a culture of spirit in the school can help students achieve later in life.”
“School spirit is something that we have been working on at KRHS for the past few years,” Lupo added, ”This year we have decided to really get out there and encourage community members to get involved with promoting school spirit and cougar pride. We have decided to send junior and senior football player and cheerleaders to each of our sending district schools on National School Spirit Day September 16th and personally welcome students off the bus and into school along with inviting them to the high school football the next day. At the game on September 16, we will be celebrating our youth athletes by inviting them to join us on the field during various parts of the game. We are very excited to work within our community to encouraged younger athletes.”
“Of course there are people who still hold on to the antiquated idea that cheerleading is not a sport, but at Kittatinny our student body, administration and staff witness the hard work, dedication and athleticism that goes into each and every performance and give our athletes the utmost respect,” Georges said. “Our school community couldn't be more supportive. For those naysayers outside our school community, I invite you to come out to a game or competition this season and see us in action. I guarantee you'll be impressed by these elite athletes.”
In addition to cheering at football games, the Kittatinny Cheerleaders will attend a few different local and regional competitions including the Hunterdon/Warren/Sussex Tournament, the Northeast Regional held at Kutztown University and the NCA Regional Championship being held at Kittatinny Regional High School this year on November 19th.
This year's squad includes: Brooke Wallgren (Stillwater), Nina Rodriguez- (Sandyston), Faith Van De Moere (Hampton), Gianna Gentile (Fredon), Taylor Kettle (Fredon), Sarah Dudes (Hampton), Marissa Kepnes (Stillwater), Sophia Torppey (Hampton), Tara Kominiak (Hampton), Julia Kruck (Fredon), Tori Frisbie (Sandyston), Samantha Ferrante (Hampton), Rachel Durso (Hampton), Jenna Dispenziere (Sandyston), Katarina Bisl (Montague), and Nicole Harris (Stillwater).