New school year, new cheer captains!
The North Allegheny Cheerleading Team is back and ready to hype up the crowd. The girls spent the majority of the summer getting their routines down and working on signs for the football players to run through. This year, three seniors were chosen to be captains — Alyson Corna, Kaitlyn Wheeler, and Morgan Ulmer.
“Cheer is actually very difficult and we aren’t just there for decoration,” Ulmer said. “We put in a lot of work and time”.
The three captains found their passion for cheer in different ways. While Corna and Ulmer started because of their love of watching their older sisters cheer, Wheeler started to cheer after having tried so many other sports. When she tried cheer, she fell in love with it.
“I loved it and got close to the other girls,” she said.
All three of the captains became close friends when began cheer in 6th grade, and now that they are senior leaders on the squad, they are eager to take on the challenges of the year.
“Everyone is more bonded and more connected this year,” Ulmer said.
In addition to describing how different it is to have no one to look up to now that they are seniors, Corna expressed how much pressure is put on the Cheerleading Team each week throughout the fall.
“There is a huge mental aspect that goes into doing skills and learning new ones,” she said.
Ulmer expressed a similar view.
“People only see the smiles, the hair, and the cute glitter on our faces,” she said. “No one sees the incredible amount of strength and agility it takes to be a cheerleader.”
Most sports are only seasonal, but cheer goes through football season and into basketball season.
“Cheer is basically all year,” Wheeler said. “It isn’t just sideline cheer. It takes so much more effort”.
The dynamic change from being a cheerleader to being a cheer captain has been dramatic for Corna, Wheeler, and Ulmer.
“We’re in charge, but we’re also a support system for the team,” Wheeler said. “The coaches will come to us if something happens, but we still want to be friends with everyone on the team.”
Though their role this year is a lot more stressful than in years past, the trio of captains are embracing the responsibilities given to them and are especially excited for this year’s season.
