Whenever you think of cheerleading you probably think of “pretty girls with pom poms” at a football game. DeLand High School’s cheerleaders are so much more than that though. DeLand's cheer team works all year on skills to get themselves ready for competition season.
Photos by: Liza Morgan
Competitive cheerleading consists of athletes throwing the hardest stunting and tumbling skills they have, back-to-back in one routine. Cheer teams compete at school, regional, state and national competitions. Just like any sport, these athletes need to perform well enough to advance to higher level competitions.
The cheer team has advanced well enough to both states and nationals for six years in a row and won the title of state champion during the 2023 season. The team has also placed top 10 in the nation several times now.
Achievements like these don't just come from nothing. DHS cheer puts everything into their sport. Cheerleaders said that being on the team takes a lot of hard work and dedication all around. It means putting cheer as your first priority and not settling for anything less than great.
This team practices three to six times a week and when they aren't at practice, they spend their time in open gyms working on new skills. When asked what she thinks it takes, junior, Paige Underwood, said that “it takes a lot of hard work from everyone on the team. When we’re not at practice we’re all at the gym throwing stunts.”
This season alone, the cheer team put 558 hours into practicing and performing. This number doesn't even include all of the after-hours work put in by the team.
Practice itself takes lots of athleticism and hard work. The start of many practices consists of running a mile before even starting real practice. According to freshman, Hailey, “practice is lots of reps and drills to really solidify our skills. Open gyms are where we learn new skills and practice is for perfecting our existing skills.”
The coach of this amazing team is Liza Morgan. She has been coaching for the past seven years and started building the competition team after her first year here. When she was in high school, she cheered for her school's team as well as working for the Varsity brand after high school.
According to Coach Morgan, “[a great team comes from] the effort people put into it and buy in from day one. I also want to uphold myself to whatever the kids do.” She has helped her athletes over the years find who they are and help them grow to be the person they are meant to be. Last year five of her athletes moved on to cheer at the colligate level.
Working along side Coach Morgan for many years was the beloved Coach Nix Thomas. Coach Nix inspired many athletes both in and out of DeLand cheer before he passed away in the summer of 2022. Last year's team dedicated their season to him when they won their first state title.
Each year, DeLand also plans to host a competition in his memory call the “Nix Thomass HHQ Memorial Cheer Competition.” HHQ stands for Hungry, Humble and Quiet. This was something Coach Nix said all the time to encourage himself and others to be the best version of themselves.
One thing DeLand's cheer team has that might be viewed as uncommon is male cheerleaders. Many believe cheer is just a sport for girls, but there are a lot of male cheerleaders, and it's super cool. DeLand has been a coed team for years and has done super well in the division. DHS has even had several boys get college scholarships for cheer.
This season DeLand had five boys from varsity football also be a part of varsity cheerleading. That sounds impossible, but it wasn't. The boys played football and competed for cheer. In other words, during games they played football but on the weekends they competed cheer. When asked
how he balanced both, one of the freshman dual athletes, Nalin Rogers, said “Coach Morgan helped schedule practices around football so I could go to both practices.”
All five of these boys are first years in cheerleading. Another freshman cheerleader and football player, Colt Steitz, said that “Friends got me to tryout for cheer, and after trying it I had tons of fun. I get to learn new skills and work hard for something I enjoy. Plus, I get to do it with all of my friends.”
Almost every boy who has tried cheerleading at DeLand has ended up sticking with it, so it's safe to say that cheer is definitely a sport for boys too.
This year's cheer team at DeLand had two seniors, Hannah Nichols and Caleb Flaherty. Both of them plan on cheering in college next year at the competitive level.
One thing that's for sure is you can't argue that cheerleading isn't a sport. Cheerleading is one of the most dangerous sports out there. It takes a lot of athleticisms to perform well in competitive cheerleading on top of practice and dedication.
DeLand High’s cheer team might be something to consider trying out for. If you're looking for a real sport, cheer is the way to go.
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