For people looking for an easy way onto the cheer team, this spring is not the time to try out. Cheerleading tryouts are being revamped and becoming more involved for the upcoming school year. Tryouts are going to be taking place on April 17-19 from 3:30-6:00 PM.
Before the beginning of tryouts, there is a whole checklist of things that need to be completed by hopeful new members and returning cheerleaders. The fight song needs to be memorized, you must have three letters of recommendations, answer some essay questions, complete the tryout packet, have a signed safety waiver, and bring the $10 tryout fee. This list may be extensive, but all the items are a must if you wish to even participate in tryouts, much less make the team.
For those who might be confused as to why this process is so much more intense than in past years, the team got a new coach this in the fall who has transformed cheer here at Roosevelt. Coach Jordan has put in place these requirements in hopes of finding students who really care about the cheer squad and would commit themselves to it.
Sophomore Sarah Shropshire, who has been on the team since the beginning of freshman year, says, “We are going to need at least nine new people, but it’s a fair go, so all the the current cheerleaders could be totally replaced.” Shropshire reaffirms that returning squad member get no special treatment and will not be placed above people trying out for the first time. “We have shared interests with our coach about completing either this year or next, which we are really hoping for. That would probably increase the opening spots even more because we might want a bigger team for competitions,” she adds.
All the open spaces on the squad that need to be filled by new cheerleaders is a good thing for all people debating whether or not they want to tryout this spring. So, even though tryouts are demanding, it is still worth it to go for it and tryout for the RHS cheer squad!
