The Elmira high school cheer team has been working hard this season to build a great team that will be ready for competitions next year.
The team is being coached by Mandy Storey and Rebecca Dube, who was a cheerleader at EHS when she attended and won state, which can be seen on the banners in the gym.
The cheer team was brought back a few years ago, but was interrupted by COVID-19 and is now making a comeback.
The current cheer team is composed of 10 girls: junior Alexis Keeney, sophomores Abby Taubr and Annalyse Gilliam, ninth-graders Teardyn Bell, Shavelle Cook, Elleana Galaviz, Johanna Larsen, Parker Lusk, Kadence Marvin, and Kylee Young-Villa.
The team primarily attended home football games this year, but did travel for three of the away games, including the Falcon’s playoff game in North Valley.
“The bus ride is always nice up there with your team,” Taubr said, “and then it’s just a different environment to cheer.”
During the winter sports season, the team will cheer on the Elmira basketball teams.
Since Elmira has a busy sports schedule, the cheer team chose to only focus on football and basketball events. This allows the team to still have time for practice during the week.
The team does not compete in competitions as of now, but the goal is to start next school year.
Storey believes the team keeps a strong environment.
“I think we create a really good environment of team camaraderie,” Storey told Falcon News. “I think that they work well together and they feed off of each other really well.”
The cheerleaders enjoy their sport.
“I like being out there for the football players and everyone,” Cook said. “Just making them happier and cheering them on.”
The cheer team’s fall season has wrapped-up, but they will be moving on to the winter sports season and begin attending basketball games.
