West High’s cheerleading team competed in state TSSAA cheerleading competition in Knoxville this past Saturday. Ms Jones is the varsity cheerleading coach here at West High. Ms Jones has been coaching cheerleading for 13 seasons as a coach. The team practiced 3-4 times a week for 3 to 4 hours. They usually have a game on the days that they did not practice this semester. The girls learned the routine during camp in May. Camp was everyday for one week for around five hours each day. Then, the team practiced all summer and throughout this fall semester to perfect the routine. At the competition each team had seven minutes to warm up at three specific stations. Then, performance could not be over two minutes and thirty seconds. Brentwood High School in Brentwood, TN won first place. Jones states, “The girls hit a solid routine! This was the first competition for many of the girls, so they got to see how they can actually successfully compete against some top-notch schools and teams.”
Cheerleading is a year-round sport, so the time-commitment is one of the hardest parts to manage. Jones states, “Another hard part about coaching cheerleading is fighting the old stereotypes of cheerleading, such as it is not a sport, not being respected in comparison to other sports, etc. As a coach, I am working as hard as I can to help break these stereotypes and actions. Coaching the girls to be respectful and responsible humans is the main priority, then these characteristics will flow into their academics and the sport.” Jones also noted that her favorite part about coaching cheerleading is not only the overall sport but also the relationships formed between. She declared that the cheerleaders will always be “my girls.” Jones has been to many competitions. The CheerSport and The Athletics competitions are always fun for her. The TSSAA competition Was something she liked being a part of because it was specifically school cheer, not all-star cheer. There are a lot of differences in the rules and regulations between school and all-star cheer. Overall, her favorite competition to watch that she has not competed in as a coach is the UCA High School Nationals. She commented, “maybe one day!” Jones teaches English II and AP English Language (spring), which is her job and main work priority. Both of those courses are state or national exams which carry a large weight to her job. She expressed, “My girls are great at understanding that all the coaches are teachers first. I think they see that in practice; we bring a lot of our teaching styles into the sport. I even bring my coaching style into the classroom. Personally, I get to work around 7am-7:15am. After work, I usually am at practice until 5:30. Depending on the day, sometimes the coaching tasks go home with me to prepare for upcoming practices, games, etc.”