After an underwhelming number of signups, the competition cheer team was cancelled this year for the first time in cheer history, allowing the regular cheer team to grow stronger.

The cancellation of the team disappointed many new and returning cheerleaders, but gave the regular cheer team more time to improve its stunts.
According to varsity captain Kaori Ego, the main reason for the low number of signups is the large time commitment competition team requires.
“It’s a huge time commitment, and that’s what a lot of people had a problem with this year,” she said. “A lot of cheerleaders are academically involved and just don’t have the time for it.”
The competition team is usually made up of JV and varsity cheerleaders and performs a two and a half minute routine including dancing, jumping, stunting, tumbling, and a cheer at four yearly competitions. According to Ego, the team has competed at national competitions in Las Vegas, bringing home multiple second place trophies.
Last year, the competition team had two practices a week in addition to two regular cheer team practices, and, according to coach Heather Brabo, the team practiced even more frequently as they neared the competitions.
Brabo said that the lack of signups by varsity cheerleaders affected the structure of the competition team.
“It was mostly the older veteran girls who didn’t want to do it this year. I wanted leadership in competition team, and I didn’t feel like I had that,” Brabo said.
Cancelling the competition team also saves money, according to Brabo, as the competition team spent a large amount on travel, hotels, competition choreographers, and performance fees.
Ego said that although she feels that she made the right decision to not participate in competition this year, she is sad to see the team get cancelled.
“I’d rather focus on school, but it is disappointing that we don’t get to have another competition experience,” Ego said. “Especially since I’ve competed every year and this is my senior year and I was expecting this year to be the year we get first place, and now we’re not even competing this year.”
However, the cancellation of the competition team gives the regular cheer team an opportunity to become stronger as a whole.
“It’s a disappointment that we’re not competing this year, but it gives us an opportunity to focus on cheering for Redwood,” said varsity cheerleader Mackenzie Hutchinson.
According to Hutchinson, the team is focusing less on dancing and more on stunting this year. Stunting involves a cheerleader, called a flyer, being lifted by other cheerleaders, called bases, fronts and backs, and performing flexibility moves like toe-touches, heel stretches, and corkscrews in the air.
According to Ego, the team attended stunting clinics over the summer, hired a more expensive stunting choreographer, and went to a stunt-specific cheer camp instead of a regular cheer camp.
“All of the stunt groups are on the same, more advanced level,” Ego said.
Ego said that a lot of this year’s new stunts are more visually appeal.
“Theres a lot of twisting and flips and backflips,” Ego said. “In past years, we’ve only done toe touches where [the flyers] do a split in the air and come back down, but this year they can go into a ball and then explode into an X shape.”
According to Hutchinson, every stunt group is unassisted this year, meaning that no one supports them on the sides.
“The more unassisted groups we have, the more advanced things we can do,” Hutchinson said. “It means that we’re stronger as a team.”
Hutchinson said that the team has also improved its basket tosses.
“The basket tosses are so much higher this year,” Hutchinson said. “They’re are a lot snappier, and the flyers are hitting different positions in the air.”
Two varsity cheerleaders, Samantha Fleming and Ramona Lightle, are also bringing new stunting ideas to practice, after having joined an elite club competition cheer team this summer called All Star Cheerleading.
“Redwood cheer practices all summer long, and [Fleming and Lightle] made the All Star team over the summer, so when they practiced with us they showed us what they practiced with All Star,” Ego said. “They brought new ideas and techniques to our team.”
In addition to the two weekly practices, the team added two days of optional weight training at a cheer conditioning class at Fitness SF.
According to Ego, the class focuses on core work and jump technique, arm and leg strengthening for bases, and flexibility.
Brabo said that the weight training class will help prevent injury and advance their ability in stunting.
“The stronger they are, the higher the girls go and the easier the stunting is going to be on their bodies.” Brabo said.
Hutchinson said that the team is working on raising its reputation.
“In past generations, cheerleaders didn’t have the reputation of being that good or skilled, so when we perform at half times and go out on the field with our new stunts, we’re proving that we are good, we are athletes, and we work hard for it,” Hutchinson said. “We’re doing things that a lot of other people wouldn’t be able to do. And it’s just getting better and better.”