Last school year, a cheerleading team was constructed for Clague middle school and was a great success. This year, it was brought back for a second year to continue the unique form of athletics and support the Clague men’s basketball teams. The squad practices three times a week like all other teams at Clague. They were able to show their improvements in practice by performing at the four men’s basketball home games instead of traditional games against other schools in Ann Arbor Public Schools.
One cheer member was eighth grader Jaleya Grady.
“I didn’t have any previous cheerleading experience and I was influenced to join by my friends that I knew were joining,” Grady said.
The cheer team had practices that consisted of them learning new cheers for the basketball games based on events throughout the game. This was a very extensive process, as they had to be cheering for the majority of the games and needed cheers that were time-appropriate.
“My favorite part of the season was being at the games,” Grady said. “I wish people knew how much hard work is put into cheerleading, and I was glad to show it (at the games).”
While cheerleading does take lots of effort from each individual participating, the entire process wouldn’t be possible without a connection between the team and the ability to execute the routines together. This makes teamwork an essential part of being a cheerleader.
“The most important thing I learned from being on the cheerleading team this year is teamwork,” Grady said. “We wouldn’t have been able to do as well as we did without us working together.”
The start of season three athletic practices and the first Clague men’s basketball was just over a week apart, only giving the cheer team three practices before they had to cheer during the game. That short of a time frame is very tough for any team to overcome and be successful, but it is especially difficult for a cheer team that doesn’t require players to have past experience and have the participants learn team specific skills.
“I didn’t have any past experience cheerleading, but I enjoyed being on the cheer team this year and will definitely consider continuing being a part of cheer teams in the future,” Grady said.
As well as many other sports, experiences from cheerleading can be taken and used as learning opportunities for other activities. This is a goal from the entire Clague athletics department, for students to be able to learn skills in athletic settings and be able to transfer them into the classroom. Cheerleading has lots of elements that can be useful in a classroom setting, such as leadership, perseverance, repetition, as well as many other topics.
“One thing I learned from cheerleading that could be applied elsewhere is being able to work together with other people because you need to do that in cheerleading and it can also be used in other places,” Grady said.
