Local Cheerleaders on the Right Path to Success

Local Cheerleaders on the
Right Path to Success
Buchholz High School Bobcats
By Tina M Loughlin, Cheer Coach
Football Cheerleading at Buchholz High School consists of two
teams. There is a Junior Varsity team that has 19 members, and a
Varsity team that has 20 members.
Both teams cheer at football games to pump up the crowd and
support the Junior Varsity and Varsity Football teams. The girls are
really enjoying their season and love spending time together. The
cheerleaders will be using pink pom poms in October in support of
Breast Cancer Awareness.
2012-13 Buchholz Bobcats Varsity
2012-13 Buchholz Bobcats Junior Varsity
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In October, both teams participate in Cat prowl, a school wide
pep rally and
talent show.
Cat Prowl is a time that the girls get to
perform as if it were a competition. The
festivities throughout the month of
October all lead
up to the
Buchholz High
School Homecoming Game
on Thursday,
October 25th
at Citizens Field.
Cory Stark
NHS Class of 2006 and UF Class
Newberry High School Panthers
by TiAnn Stark
The cheerleaders at Newberry High not only
raise school spirit and represent their school
and community, they also compete. At the
inaugural FHSAA State Finals for competitive
cheer, in 2008, NHS placed state runner-up in
the All Girl Small Varsity category. Last year,
these athletes were again state runner-up at
the 2012 FHSAA State Competitive Cheer Finals in 1A Small Varsity Coed. Their record last year was 23-4. They
hope to bring home the state title in 2013.
Coed cheer is not an easy thing to do, especially in a small community. “We’ve had to overcome a lot of stereotypes to reach this
level. There are many opportunities for college cheer, especially for
men. We’ve already had one NHS graduate and male cheerleader go
on to cheer all four years at the University of Florida. While there, he
received a scholarship for four years from UF cheer as well as many other
athletic perks. We fully expect to see most of the current male cheerleaders at NHS on a field in college as well
as some of the female cheerleaders.” says
TiAnn Stark.
2012-13 Newberry Panthers Varsity
Tayler Styles &
Lauren Davis
The 2012-2013 NHS spirit team has 37
members that make up four squads, the Varsity and JV fall squads
which cheer at all football games and support other fall sports including cheering at some volleyball games; the winter squad, which
cheers at boys and girls basketball games and supports other winter
sports; and the competition team. All members participate in two
mini clinics held for the community children each year. Participants
learn cheer basics and a routine they perform at an NHS game. NHS
squad members also participate in community service events. Each
year, you will find them at Town of Tioga’s Run for Haven Hospice
and Newberry’s Relay for Life. In October, they sell as many
“pink treats” as they can to help raise awareness for breast cancer and
donate all monies made to cancer research.
of 2010
TiAnn cheered at Eastside High School in Gainesville for two years,
graduating in 1981. She began coaching middle school and competitive cheer in 1997 because of her daughter. She took over as the head
coach at NHS in 2003. Her daughter cheered all four years at NHS and
2012-13 Newberry Panters Junior Varsity
her son cheered two years at NHS and four years at UF. Cheer has been a
part of her life for many years.
www.NewberryCheer.com.
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9
hours plus two appearances a week. We cheered for football and basketball and the junior
varsity team cheered some women’s sports also. There has always been controversy over
whether or not we were athletes and I can only say we lettered in our sport and are all
now members of the F Club which is dedicated to former UF athletes. I know we consider
what we did a sport even if others might disagree.
Currently I am in my second year working toward my Master’s in Marriage and Family
Therapy at UF. I am a stay at home mom to my two children, Brooke, 16, and Luke, 12. I
am still involved in the cheer program here, helping out with tryouts each spring, which
I enjoy a lot. I have a lot of fond memories of my time cheering at UF and will cherish
the experiences we had forever. My daughter has never shown an interest in cheering but
if she wanted to cheer, that would be fine with me although the partner stunting would
make me nervous since it would
be my child in the air!
-STEPHANIE
WELDON MATTHEWS
1972 Miami Dolphins
Did You Know They
“Cheerleading has changed
SOOOOO much since I cheered...
for example as you see us standing on the backs of other girls
Competition, spirit and fun are all part of being a cheerleader. Only a handful of that was called a “Stunt”! HA!! I
people are lucky enough to be part of it. Local women talk about their memories of watched my daughter cheer and
1980 P.K.Younge
it aged me as she was tossed
being a cheerleader.
high into the air.
“I was sixteen when my best friend told me about the Miami Dolphins cheerleader tryouts.
We both went to the tryouts and faced around 350 contestants. It was the surprise of our This is what I would say about cheerleading...if you want to do it these days I would highly
lives when we made the squad. As it turned out, that team became the only undefeated recommend a strong gymnastics background as it truly is a high velocity sport. “
NFL team in history in that 1972 season. Super Bowl XII in Los Angeles was a lifetime -TAMMY COOPER
memory and all of us girls still remain friends today. We all call each other as soon as the
last undefeated team of the season goes down!
Were Cheerleaders?
My niece, Brittany Walton is a varsity cheerleader at Newberry
High School and I am proud of her to carry on the tradition! It
is a wholesome sport and the bonds created last a lifetime.”
-JOY GLANZER.
“I cheered at UF from 1988 to 1992. At that time, we were
required to maintain a 2.5 GPA, were randomly drug tested,
and had required workouts in the weight room where the other
sports teams trained. We practiced five nights a week for two
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