At Denver Christian, we are passionate about expanding the opportunities that we offer our high school students. This year, we brought high school cheerleading back and it is better than ever! Our 11 freshmen, four sophomores, and four juniors have started their season strong with their connection as a team and contribution to our community.
Cheer Team Culture
While the official cheer season may have just started, our team has spent the pre-season building a foundation for the year. Our team spent their pre-season retreat focusing on developing their identity and mission to radiate the glory of God. Coach Gina Harris says, “As a team, our focus is being an example and being image-bearers as a team. We want that to show when we are performing, on the sidelines, at half time, when we are competing.” The early investment in team culture is evident in this group of young women. Already, our cheer team has blessed our community by performing at the student picnic, welcoming families at backpack night, and working with elementary students. They will lead our first ever Homecoming Parade this Friday to kick off Fall Fest.
“We are hardworking and we are a family.”
Member of the high school cheer team
Athletic Events
In addition to working on their own competitions, our cheerleaders are starting to bring school spirit to our other athletic events. They performed at their first home football game in August. Coach Gina reflected on how engaged the Thunder community was in her game recap: “They were really interactive, which I was impressed to see because it was the first time we had a cheer program in many years….We are now working with some of the student leaders to coordinate that the cheer team and the leaders are yelling the same cheers.”
The energy from our cheerleaders radiates into the crowd. As one cheerleader commented, [at the beginning of the practice season]”I was surprised to discover how cheerleading is much more than standing on the sidelines cheering.” Our team has specific routines and stunts for quarters, timeouts, and half-time. They have offensive cheers, defensive cheers–you name it!
Competition Season
The competition season starts October 30th. Our students will be competing in six competitions before state in December, where they will compete in the 2A division. The girls are excited to see their hard work put off. When asked what they are most proud of, our cheerleaders said: “The insane stunts we have learned!” and “The improvement we have made!”
This cheerleading season would not be possible without our fantastic coach, Gina Harris. Gina is the founder of Cheer Coach Academy. She mentors other coaches with her 20+ years of experience. We are so thankful for her excellence and her desire to encourage our students on and off the field!
Be sure to follow our athletics hub for more stories about high school cheerleading throughout their season!