When a whistle blows or a buzzer sounds, it’s usually the signal for a break in action during a sporting event, but at Maple River, timeouts and halftimes have become an opportunity for the show within the show. Under the guidance of Stephanie Cooper and Chelsey Roberts, the Maple River Cheer squad has been filling the gym with volume and skill thanks to a roster that has surged to 24 girls from grades 7-12. “We had 18 for football,” Cooper remembered. “And now we’re at 24 I believe. They just kept piling in and we ordered 30 uniforms, and we almost fulfilled all 30.”
Even though Cooper cheered for Maple River when she attended her sophomore and junior year, and another as a senior, it’s her rookie year as the head coach, which is why she enlisted Roberts as support. Cooper believes cheerleading is “up my alley” and jumped at the opportunity to work with the program. “This is something I love: watching people dancing. When we first found out the numbers, We were like, ‘oh boy.’ Like we were brand new coaches at this, and we didn't know what to expect. And we're like, we're gonna make it work, I guess.”
When asked about the reason for student buy-in to the program, Cooper claimed, “I actually could not tell you that.” When speaking to one of her veterans, the answer became clear: “People talk,” explained junior Lucy Phelps regarding the surge in numbers. As a veteran, Phelps credits the rookie coaches and their style for being a major factor in the program’s growth. “They're amazing. They always want us to do better and improve. They're always pushing us if we don't think we can do it. They're like, ‘yes, you can do it!’” Phelps explained how each coach has a developed role. Cooper focuses on the stunting and implementing cheers while Roberts helps keep the large team in line, especially “if you're not doing what you're supposed to be doing.”
To manage the large squad, Cooper communicates with a team snap app and has practice from 3:15 to 5:00 on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursdays. A practice consists of stretching, learning new cheers, and evaluating performances. To pull it all off, though, Cooper also relies on her veteran cheerleaders. “The older girls are definitely the ones that step up, and then even the younger girls, like, even though their first year doing it, they're even stepping up and helping some of the new people.”
Phelps is one of the veterans helping to take on the mantle of leadership. “It depends on the day. There's days where it's very difficult to keep them in line than others. It's pretty good.”
Laynie Gartner is another veteran on the squad. “I don't think people know how much work you have to put into it, and they think it's just like, oh it's just like a little thing to do, but we've worked really hard for it.”
No Drama Allowed
By jumping into the commitment, Cooper and Roberts were also able to start with a clean slate and set up clear expectations for what they wanted to accomplish with the program. “We wanted them to bond–become like a family. That is our greatest thing is we don't want no drama. We just want you guys to help each other. Okay, be one. We are a team,” Cooper explained. Cadence Fitzsimmons has been a cheerleader since eighth grade and is now another one of the veteran leaders of the squad. She echoed her coaches’ philosophy about the challenges of being on such a large team. “Getting to the point where we're actually a team,” FitzSimmons explained her view of the early challenges. “because usually there's, like, a lot of drama. It takes a while to get past that and actually focus on cheer.”
No Risk, No Reward
While working together as a team is an important life-skill, the squad seemingly finds new and inventive ways to engage the crowd each week. FitzSimmons credits her coaches for not just setting a standard but for also raising the bar of expectations. “Our coaches are very insistent. There's more of a disciplinary kind of deal. If we don't do good, then we then we can’t have have nice things like going to weight room for practice.”
Coach Cooper explained how the girls will actually motivate each other with the promise of teaching more challenged routines. “We just keep pushing it. And then they like to do stunting or flying. So that's a reward. We have a couple other people that fly. Usually we cannot do that during the game. We have to do it either at the time out, or, like in football, we did it in between. From the first day of practice,we have grown. They actually wanted to do a dance, so we're gonna prepare that also. They have come so far. We told them they had to learn all the cheers and all the eight counts before they could do stunting. And then we got stunting done, and then they wanted to work on the dance”
The cheer squad plans to showcase their dance routine at the February 10th game. At a recent game, the showcased one of their “fliers” as well as some stunting, which drew senior Savannah Garza to the squad despite being a rookie cheerleader. The veteran dancer heard about the ambitious plans of the cheer squad and signed up. “I wanted to join because I'm planning on doing cheer in college, and I wanted a little bit more of a sideline background, because I had the competitive background. So I thought that getting the sideline background would be a good idea.” Garza explained that she saw what they were doing during the fall season and wanted to be part of the program. “I think that this year, watching football, watching them stunt and gain new experiences with Stephanie and Chelsey really brought in more people.”
Music to My Ears
While the squad is now learning more advanced skills, the basics of cheering is much more complicated to prepare. To be ready for specific teams, recorded music, or live music from the pep band requires versatility and last second judgments. The squad prepared their routines based on “a good eight count” and then must be ready for the right song to showcase it. The problem? “We do not know ahead of time” what songs will be played. “It's harder to do the eight counts for the girls basketball team because they have different music. The boys are easier. It's definitely better when the pep band's there.”
Finding cheers that are versatile and fresh is another important skill. “The veterans knew the cheers, but we do a lot off of YouTube. There's some great videos on there we have chosen. There's a group of girls on there that I loved, and that's where we got a lot of our new cheers.
Kaita Bolte explained how the routine comes first and then they pick the right one for the right song. “So usually we have eight counts, and those are already pre-made dances, and they each have their own beat to them. Some are slow; some are faster. When we're down doing games, it depends on the tempo of the music.” Picking the right song comes down to someone making the call a few beats into a song. “It's usually the veteran cheerleaders who stand in the front. It's like a telecom—a communication thing–where you just stick your head out, whisper a cheer or whisper one of the eight counts and start going.” For Bolte, she definitely has a few favorites that she waits for during an evening. “My favorite eight count is called JT. That's just a J and A T, and it's my favorite because it's the most dancey, I guess. I think it's the most complicated eight count we have and it's just fun to do.”
The Man Behind the Mask
Along with the cheers, the stunts, and the dances, another staple of Maple River cheerleading is the Eagle mascot. Bryan Goebel joined the cheer squad as an eighth grader back in August of 2021 when he was 13 and is now the senior member of the squad. With seniority comes privileges, and Bryan now has taken on the role of the Eagle. “My favorite memory is when I became the Eagle, and I remember I got all of the comments. In fact, I've gotten fan mail a few times, which is fantastic. So I really, I really liked my transition from a cheerleader to a mascot because I can dance all I want. So if a Taylor Swift song ever plays, then I get to dance and not follow all of the rules.”
Despite all the freedom, being the Eagle does have a few drawbacks. “I get very hot. Yeah, I have to wear ice packs. And even with that, even if it's like 90 degrees, then it's really hot, so therefore, I have to take breaks.” Being the Eagle also requires a bit of help. “I do have to have someone guide me to where I am going, so then I don't knock into any kid. Because, you know, seeing the kid crying when I accidentally run into them, it's just a really guilty feeling.”
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