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Flips, lifts and tumbling passes are just a few things you can expect from BHS cheerleaders. Those skill-filled performances earned BHS cheer team second place out of six spots in their first competition. In order to get a spot for regionals teams had to get a score over 70. The girls continued on to regionals but did not get the required score of 80 to go to states.
“I feel very proud of myself because I was the only [eighth grader] on the team and I know how hard I worked to get there,” said Gwyn Halbert, an eighth grade flier on the varsity team.
She said their competition season was stressful with various injuries among teammates, and continuous changes to their routine. There were moments when they could not compete because they did not have a full team, but Halbert said she couldn’t ask for a better group. She said one difficulty was the mental blocks but her teammates’ encouragement is a major reward for it all.
The highlight of the season for her was during the second playoff game when the football team was losing and varsity player Eric Lovell made a touchdown leading the team to victory. Halbert said she got into cheering when she was younger because of her sister Lyra who is a senior captain on the team.
“I think I was basically born into cheer,” she said. They would put her in many stunts and she enjoyed watching the cheerleaders at games even before she was one.
Freshman cheerleader Taylor Dwyer is a base on the varsity cheer team. She got involved with Barnstable cheer through her cousin, who played for Barnstable football. Dywer’s highlight of the season was being able to watch her cousin and his best friend play on the varsity football team as sophomores.
Her personal favorite part of cheering is making bonds with her teammates and coaches, along with bettering herself for the following season. “It is very fun and I am so close with everyone on the team now.”
She is very proud of herself for being on varsity as a freshman. “I think I’ve come a long way being on varsity this season.”
Zaire Black is a senior cheer captain and has cheered since she was little, but has been with the team since the eighth grade. She feels this season is bittersweet because it is her last.
Black said “Comp[etition] season was not what we wanted but I think we all did what we had to and we had fun, which is what matters.” One highlight of the season for her would be how our football team made it to the final four for the state and being able to cheer for some of her best friends.
“It’s always so fun and you get a lot of love and appreciation at games when you’re in the student section at football games, because we all know how big this school is in sports,” said Black.
