“You Cheer like a Girl”: The Toughness and Resilience of Being a Jenks Cheerleader
Photo Credit to Presley Cahalen
By: Ella Embry
Wake up, go to school, practice - an endless cycle for most athletes at Jenks. Our bodies have become so used to these routines to perfect our crafts. Imagine working hard every day, all year round, just to receive feedback that what you are doing is not considered a “sport.” Jenks Cheer members experience this kind of criticism on a day-to-day basis but have to keep pushing forward. Savvy Travis, Sophomore, on the Jenks Varsity Cheer Team, talks about how the public view on cheer has an impact on her team.
“Cheer does not get enough recognition at all from the public eye. Everyone just thinks it's easy and all we do is shout chants on the sidelines, which is far from the truth. The most difficult thing about cheer is the mental side of it,” said Travis. “Knowing that you work so hard for a 2-minute and 30-second routine and getting one chance to go out and execute it perfectly is hard enough. We are lifting full bodies in the air and flipping over ourselves without making a mistake.”
Jenks Cheer practices on average 10-12 hours a week, 2-3 hours daily. Compared to other sports at Jenks high school, that’s an excessive amount of time committed to achieving their goals.
“The strain cheer puts on your emotional health and your body is astronomical. The body is not supposed to move the way cheerleaders do. It is 100% a mental game. Tumbling especially, you have to think of every intricate detail with no guarantee you will land standing up,” Travis said.
Along with working hard each day, there come many injuries. It can be difficult on both your physical and mental health when trying to overcome an injury, yet supporting your team. Trying to find a balance in between is another task that cheerleaders try to manage on their own.
Presley Cahalen and Payton Harrell on the sidelines during a Jenks Friday night football game. Photo Credit to Presley Cahalen
“One thing I want our peers to know when it comes to cheerleading is that we don’t just do motions on the sidelines and cheer on other Jenks' teams. We work extremely hard at our own sport and compete in multiple competitions,” said Presley Cahalen, Junior on the Jenks Varsity Cheer Team.
Jenks Varsity Cheer Team winning 1st place at Regionals this past season. Photo Credit to Savvy Travis
Jenks Cheer competes in 5 competitions yearly. The typical cheer season consists of competing at Regionals, State, Game Day Regionals, Game Day State, and Nationals. Nationals is by far the largest and most important competition that they prepare for.
“I think any cheerleader can agree that it bothers us when people say cheer isn’t a sport. A sport is an activity that involves exercise and takes skill. Cheer does just that and on such a difficult level,” said Cahalen. “When people question cheerleading as a sport and cheerleaders' athletic ability, it’s irritating because we work just as hard as any other sport with a lot less recognition. It’s difficult at times because we don’t play a game once a week. We compete every couple of months with a routine we’ve put countless hours into, and not as many people get to see what we really do.”
Next time you are at a Friday night game and look down on the sidelines, just remember the amount of skill and effort it takes to be a Jenks cheerleader. They deserve the credit and recognition for being called a sport at our school. If you would like to support Jenks Cheer further, check out @JenksVarsityCheer on Instagram for updates and events on when they perform!