Caption: PACA high school cheerleaders keep the energy moving during the PACA vs. EAC game on the Campinas campus. [by Esther H. de Lima]
by Melissa Fernandes (Warrior Post Reporter / São Paulo, Brazil)
On August 17, the cheerleaders made their debut of the season with a spirited performance, showing sportsmanship and skills that the squad had been practicing in recent weeks.
Their first opportunity came at the away game for the varsity basketball team that traveled to Campinas to play against the Escola Americana de Campinas (EAC). As the girls and boys team showed their best efforts on the court, the cheerleaders worked just as hard to provide energy and momentum at the sidelines.
For cheerleading coach Mrs. Grace Chung, she strives to inspire her team to work just as hard on the side lines as the athletes playing in the games.
According to Chung, cheerleading is more than putting on a uniform and wearing beautiful bows in their hair. There is a process that is needed for an excellent performance.
“We have a lot of training, work and dedication from all of the team members,” said Chung.
According to Time magazine, a publication from the United States, some people disregard cheerleading as a professional sport even though cheer has qualities that make it recognizable as one.
Although some national organizations are still slow to put cheerleading on the same level with other recognized sports (such as football and basketball), there is more effort to see them as athletes.
In Brazilian schools, national championships have been created to recognize cheerleading as an official sport, according to HerCampus.com (an online magazine targeted at female college students).
At PACA, the cheerleading team will have their own opportunity to shine as student athletes. Although they spend a lot of time preparing to cheer for basketball games, they will also participate in a cheerleading competition during the Big 8 tournament this fall.
The PACA high school cheerleaders practice together every afternoon during the normal school day schedule.
“We worked a lot on our physical strength,” said Chung, “memorization with the choreographies, and all of them worked hard for the presentation.”
In this new season of cheerleading, the challenge is learning to work together as a team, especially with the acceptance of new members every school year. One of the new cheerleaders this year is freshman Melissa Souza.
Since there is not a cheerleading squad for middle school students, these students often watch with future expectation of participating once they are in high school.
“I always watched the games and wanted to be a cheerleader,” said Souza. “It was very exciting; there was a lot of training, learning and in the end a very tight game.”
Souza said she learned a lot through cheering for the PACA boys team as they competed against EAC. For her, the memory of watching PACA win after a very tight game, is part of her learning process.
“A very memorable moment was when we won,” said Souza. “We all hugged.”
The high school cheerleading squad will cheer for the varsity boys and girls basketball games both at PACA and away games. According to Chung, the culmination of the cheerleading season will be when they participate in the tournament. However, there is more that Chung wants her students to learn.
“Beyond all the technical parts, I want to teach them principles of the importance of dedication,” said Chung. “I believe that we will grow together in different aspects of life.”
