Parents, friends, and cheerleaders packed the high school gym, the sounds of chatter and cheering audible from afar. Concessions and vendors filled the third-floor halls, with smells of food wafting in the air. Cheerleaders in different, colorful uniforms could be found warming up at the middle school, relaxing in the auditorium, or performing in the gym.
This event, hosted by Haven’s cheerleading team on Saturday, December 7, was the Haven Cheer Challenge. Other high school and recreational cheerleading teams are invited to compete against each other in various categories, like varsity game day, JV, and non-tumbling game day.
Game Day categories tries to replicate spirit shown by cheerleaders at sports matches, while regular JV and small or large varsity competition aims to have well-executed stunts and choreography. Some categories may include tumbling, which can include gymnastics moves like handsprings and somersaults, while others like non-tumbling game day do not.
“It’s a way to showcase all of our skills,” senior cheerleading captain Sophia Morris said. “It’s a fundraiser for us, but it’s [also] really nice to see all of the local teams and cheer each other on while we perform our routines.”
According to head cheerleading coach Mrs. Heather Burns, it is one of the cheerleading team’s biggest fundraisers for nationals, when the cheerleaders travel to Orlando, Florida to compete in game day style and competition style categories against cheerleading teams nationwide.
Haven’s cheer members helped other teams with resources, taking them between the middle and high school for warmups and ensuring the event ran smoothly. They did not participate in the competition but were scored on their performances for feedback.
“It was very low-stress and a lot of us really focused on having fun with it and trying our hardest without having to worry about being better than anybody else since we weren’t going against anybody,” Sophia said. “It was a great confidence booster going into the rest of our season.”
Planning for the Haven Cheer Challenge began in June when the cheerleading coaches and parents pitched in to make the event happen.
“I take on team registration, organizing schedules, getting the DJ, the judges, and all the behind-the-scenes for the competition, and then the parents take on the concessions and the vendors and stuff,” Burns said.
The day before, the team gathered to set up decorations, signs, and mats at both the high school and middle school.
“We started at 5:00 last night setting everything up. We left around 8:00, and then we were here at 7 AM just to get last-minute things and the concessions organized,” Burns said.
During the competition, all teams were judged using a Universal Cheerleaders Association (UCA) score sheet following a basis of criteria. Criteria include things like stunt difficulty, spirit, and tumbling.
“They are getting judged by division, so we have multiple divisions, like our varsity division has a small and large division, a JV division, and game day, in the high school divisions,” Burns said. “Then, in the afternoon, they’re rec, so they’re more judged by age group. They’re judged within their divisions and then by size of teams.”
Cheerleaders also perform customized music, where many popular songs are infused into one for a specialized song routine.
“Most of the teams have choreographers, and the choreographers work closely with a music company, and we pay for our music to be customized and send them songs, and they put everything together,” Burns said. “We have to file all the copyright and music licenses, so that’s all built into our rules and everything.”
For Haven, despite being judged, performing together was their biggest highlight.
“Getting scored is always stressful, but I think that performing together and at these events really brings us together, and it builds more character for each of us every single time we perform together,” junior base and flyer Janet Huang said. “We always learn something new.”
Their performances for junior back spot and co-ed base Gordon Morris also display their team connection.
“It’s pretty cool how we just spend almost an entire year together,” Gordon said. “Tryouts are in the early spring and we spend the summer together preparing skills to go to a week-long camp, so we just form really close bonds as a team, and that shows how close a team we are.”
Besides cheer performances and judging, Haven hosted a cheerleading Jump Off, where any cheerleader from any team could pay $5 to compete against other participants in who could perform the best jump, voted on by the audience. Huang announced for the friendly competition and encouraged the crowd to cheer on their favorite participant.
“I think that in those moments everyone just is cheering for each other, and I think that’s a big part of cheerleading is everyone is rooting for each other,” Huang said. “MCing is just nice because you are going to see everyone get along.”
The event’s success leaves many cheer team members excited for next year’s Cheer Challenge.
“I’m looking forward to seeing all these central teams and all these rec teams as I never see them, but it’s one of the highlights of my days, watching these little kids go out there, perform their best, and it’s an amazing time,” Gordon said. “I can’t wait to do this again.”
