The Future of Cheer at Hastings High

Tryouts for the 2023-2024 cheer team concluded. A pool of 45 girls from all grades tried out this year, starting next year off with the highest amount of auditionees seen in the past couple years. 

“I’d say there was a huge athletic pool which I’m a big believer in [the idea that] if you have any athletic background you can pick up cheer pretty fast,” Head Cheer Coach Madison Jagels said. “I kept telling them all week that the top 30 was going to be pretty close, and I’m just proud of how hard they worked. That’s a long week of just practicing everyday and getting up early, but I’d like them to keep working hard this year and to put in the work and show up on time. When State comes around in February, you’re either going to feel like all your hard work paid off, or you’re going to have a lot of regret about not trying your hardest. So there’s two roads you can take– and one is going to be a lot more fun.”

This year, cheerleaders were selected based on scores that were 30 percent  based off of teacher recommendations. Students had to choose two teachers: one core teacher and one elective. The teachers filled out a survey on the student’s attitude, work ethic, timeliness, attendance, and peer cooperation. Teachers also responded with a paragraph at the end describing areas in the student excels in. Jagels described how her goal in creating this process was to build a more well-rounded cheer team.

“I’d say every girl that made the team this year had really good teacher recommendations. So I think overall, we are going to have more positive attitudes and more hard-working people,” Jagels said. “A lot of these girls on the team are involved in a lot of other activities. I think them being a lot more well-rounded in school makes them a better cheerleader and shows school spirit.”

Jagels has goals to improve the culture and traditions within the cheer team. Being the only recent coach that stayed for their second year, she feels that tradition and culture have been influenced by the constantly changing leaders.

“They’ve been handed off to a lot of different people, so I think that has caused a shift in culture. You lose a lot of traditions through that. So one big thing I’m focusing on is adding more traditions but also still maintaining some that they’ve had for years,” Jagels said. “But [I’ve been working on] kinda changing the culture to be more disciplined. We want to run this as more of an athletic program. So, you think about when someone shows up to basketball practice, you can’t be late. The same thing needs to go for cheer practice.”

Senior Hayley Huber, graduating from the 2022-2023 cheer season, talks about how the team strives for a different culture. Similar to Jagels, Huber sees next year as an opportunity to reshape cheerleading in the eyes of HHS. 

“While there are many past traditions to uphold, they plan on establishing new traditions for future cheerleaders,” Huber said. As I see it, the team wants to change the way the cheer is perceived in HHS while striving towards the goals these new team members have. As a former team member, I don’t know what is exactly expected for next year, but I do know this team has a lot of promising potential.”

Leaders aren’t seeing this potential anywhere. The new members surpassed a tight line-up of 31 other students wanting a position on the cheer team. One of the new members, sophomore Peyton Criss, is excited to cheer with her friends.

“I felt confident trying out because I do the dance. I wanted to join because I wanted to be with my friends, especially Brianna,” Criss said. “I am excited for next year because I’m excited to get to know all the people on the team.”

Cheerleaders like Criss are expected to be not only confident, but also inclusive. Jagels believes that a cheer team contains people from multiple different backgrounds. She says that a good cheerleader is someone who not only is diverse, but willing to learn from others’ diversity.

Similar to Jagels, Huber believes that a good cheerleader is open-minded.

“A good cheerleader to me is someone who is willing to work hard and be persistent. You don’t have to fit into a stereotype to be successful,” Huber said. “As long as you are understanding of others, show respect, and bring a positive attitude and mindset, you have the ability to be a wonderful cheerleader.”

The upcoming season and the results of tryouts leaves Huber with confidence about the new cheer team.

“I love the positive energy all of the girls have. They seem like such bright young women with determination and amazing work ethics, and I’m excited for them to start their cheer journey,” Huber said.