South Broward High School cheer team placed eighth out of tenth in their division this year at FHSAA states competition in Lakeland, Florida. The routine was 2 minutes and 30 seconds long. It consisted of a cheer, two dances, two stunts and one pyramid.

It started with a cheer representing the red and gold team. Then they move into the beginning of the dance and jump. Then they go into three stunt groups where the flyers cartwheel into a load and prepare for a Baha. They move up to a full to a cradle down. Then all move to the pyramid where four stunts take place. Once the flyers are bumped down, they move to the end of the dance. 

“When we practiced, I was always scared that our rainbow wouldn’t go high and the bases wouldn’t catch my foot after the tic-toc. But once we stepped on that mat, all those fears went away and we hit each stunt perfectly,” said Isabel Gleeson.

The cheer team consists of 12 girls and 3 coaches. The team is qualified as a small non-tumbling division, where they compete against nine other teams for a spot in the finals. This year might be a little different than the last.

As there were ten teams competing for a final spot, only three made it. All of the teams the girls went against were mostly located in north Florida and had about two or three teams from south Florida.

“Even if this team is smaller from last year, we made it farther than last year. We only got to regionals last year and  we were so upset. But when we found out we made it to states, we were in a state of shock where it took us a couple days to process,” said Ariana.

The girls usually start practicing during the summer, but this took a turn. “We got to start practice in November and we started with 16 girls. Some stopped showing up, others quit, and one of our bases got injured which was hard to watch as it was her senior year and I know she was looking forward to it,” said Ariana.

With the effects of Covid, a lot has changed rapidly for the cheer team, “In previous years, once we performed, we could watch the other teams in the stadium, but due to Covid we all had to sit in a theater room and watch through a projector. It wasn’t as fun but I’m glad we got to watch all the girls perform,” said Isabel Gleeson.