As the spring season comes to a close and teams begin wrapping up their final games, one of the school’s most overlooked teams is also finishing its journey. The San Dimas High School stunt cheer team is officially closing out its competition season, bringing months of hard work and preparation to a finish in a sport that often goes unrecognized.
People often confuse football season cheerleading with stunt, and although they may seem the same in some aspects, stunt requires more strength, and perfect timing with one another. The games require teams to perform routines made up of stunts, pyramids and tumbling, in which both teams are judged at once. With little room for error, every athlete on the mat must stay focused on the counts they’re used to and listen out for the music to help them with timing, as even the smallest mistake can impact the score, causing either a win or loss.
Throughout the winter season, the athletes dedicated countless hours to conditioning, practicing, and perfecting the routines they receive for competition. Early mornings and late nights became part of their schedule. These morning practices start as early as 6:15-8:00 AM on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and the late practices went from 6:00-9:00 PM on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, so these girls are constantly working day in and day out.
Junior athlete Lily Mathis was asked “How do you think this stunt season went, and did you see any growth from the beginning to the end of the season?”, as she took time to respond, she reflected on the season and the effort it took to reach the end. Soon she answered with, “Over all I think stunt season went well because of the lessons we learned as a team. I saw growth in the unity we gained from working well as a team. I saw growth in the new skills we picked up despite the pressure of a fast pace environment.”
As the season progressed, the team continued to improve by watching “film” back of their routines, learning from each performance and figuring out what they need to improve within their routine, in order to even do better at the next competition. Athletes say one of the most valuable parts of the season was not just competing, but also being able to gain confidence and learn how to perform under pressure.
This season, the team had a great start to the beginning of their season, for in December they were able to get first place at the JAMZ competition, earn second place at the USA Regionals, which qualified them for nationals, placed top 5 at CIF, qualified for state, and most recently, won their game against walnut 20-15. These girls have trained so hard for these amazing placements and have been able to represent our school very well, especially for this being one of the early years for the program.
Despite their success, the stunt team still faces the challenge of little to no recognition compared to other sports on campus, as this year there were no home games and all of the competitions took place off campus. In addition to this, the sport itself is still growing in popularity at the high school level. However, the team hopes their achievements this season will help bring more attention to stunt and the effort it requires, rather than being called “easy”, or “not a sport”, when it clearly is.
As the players final competitions conclude, they won against walnut high school with the score of 20-15, and the team leaves the season with a strong sense of accomplishment. For seniors, it marks the end of their high school stunt careers, while underclassmen look ahead to building on this year’s major success.
