The MHS Cheerleaders kicked off their first home game on September 18th, with surging energy and enthusiasm as they cheered for Malden’s football team, who were up against the Somerville Highlanders. After long, hard, but productive practices, they were excited to present their routines and stunts during the game.
Determined to start the first home game on a strong note and have a perfected routine, captains Alexia Maciel Lima (Managing Editor of The Blue and Gold), Carolina Rosa De Oliveira, Claudia Hernandez Escobar, and Taliyah Lauture have been working extremely hard during their practices. Rosa De Oliveira shared how it’s been, “halftime, halftime, halftime, every single day. We have been really trying to get it done so we can perfect our routine, especially because we have a lot of new girls and we’re really pushing them to get to high school level, because a lot of our friends have never cheered.”
“I went into high school not knowing anything about cheer, so I was in the same boat. So seeing these girls do things that took me one to two years to learn, it’s really impressive and I’m really proud of them,” Rosa De Oliveira continued.
The team has been looking forward to this upcoming season and believes that “there are so many things to look forward to,” Lauture expressed. “I’m going to try my best to really take on the captain role.”
When halftime came and the cheerleaders took the spotlight, their skill and talent kept the crowd engaged and cheering throughout the whole routine. Maciel Lima explained how their halftime routine was “on the simpler side” compared to most of their previous routines, but for many of the girls, it was their first game performance and she believes, “the rush and adrenaline of going from start to finish, as well as getting the whole routine together, is an experience that is really valuable to a team because it teaches them about the work they have to put in for that minute and thirty seconds.”
“It was definitely nerve-wracking cheering again, after taking a break from sideline cheering, but I’m excited for what’s to come,” Hernandez Escobar shared.
Hernandez Escobar believes that in the future, the team needs to focus on their time management, “because sometimes we rush things and learn things only a couple of days prior, and it’s difficult for some people to get on the same page because some learn slower than others.” On the other hand, Rosa De Oliveira expressed that they need to present increased animation. “We’re supposed to be the entertainment during the games, so we really need to up our energy. Although we haven’t been handed the same opportunities or resources as other cheer teams in our area, we’ve still persevered to be better, and we continue to chase that.”
The team’s unity is stronger than ever this season, as they held multiple team bondings to strengthen the connection between the girls. Throughout their practices, they never stop motivating and cheering each other on, even for smaller achievements. Maciel Lima commented on how, “there have been various points during practice throughout the last couple of months that someone has hit a new skill, and the whole room erupts. We love to clap and really motivate each other because we know how hard it is to do some of the things that we do.”
“As of right now, for the amount of time we’ve been together as a team…our bond is really strong, and when the bond is strong, the team is strong,” Hernandez Escobar concluded.
