Though COVID – 19 has affected all aspects of society, sports have been hit particularly hard. The Central Kitsap High School cheer team is no exception to that.

“Between dealing with COVID, constant schedule changes, game cancellations, and the stress of school and personal lives—they have really shown their strength as a team and as individuals,” Delany Bartlett, one of the two coaches on the team, said.

Throughout the summer leading up to the beginning of the school year, the team practices four days a week to prepare for the upcoming football and competition season. 

“During this time, we also do two practices per day (one in the  morning, one in the afternoon) to condition, practice material (such as chants, cheers,  and dances), do team bonding, and practice our stunts,” Bartlett said. 

As said by Malaya Hagge, a senior CKHS cheerleader, “The most important trait of a cheerleader is dedication. Without dedication cheerleading is impossible. We work all year including summer and each member is relying on the whole team constantly”.

Throughout the school year, the team continues to have a packed schedule. 

“During the school year, our team practices three to four days per week, with various games  throughout the week. We try to give our team one to two days per week to manage their school  and personal lives, but also keep our team progressing and ready for what is coming  next. During our competition season (November-January) we sometimes will practice five days a week to make sure that we are ready for our competition that weekend,” Bartlett said. 

This year, there are two separate teams that make up the squad, one being the Game Day Team,  that attend all school and sporting events and the competition team, which are selected by the CKHS Cheer Coaching Staff and represent the team at competitions. 

“This team has a higher  commitment as it requires longer practices, high athletic ability, and consistent  attendance. Competition team competes in anywhere from four to six competitions per  season, and then the State Competition if we get a high enough score to attend” Bartlett said.

Regarding the cheer team’s attendance at CKHS sporting events, due to the team being a varsity sport team, they mainly attend varsity games. 

They attend all varsity football games and all varsity basketball home games. 

“My favorite part about being a cheerleader is how much fun the football games are! The fans are always so excited and pumped and it makes the game a lot more fun,” Hagge said. 

However, the team makes a point to try to attend at least one sporting event for all of CKHS’ sports teams in support of them. 

“This year attending other sporting events has been hard due to  COVID-19 protocols and schedule changes” Bartlett said. 

Despite the various challenges that the team faces, it’s members remain positive. 

“We all work really well together and everyone’s super nice and uplifting,” Meghan Landon, a senior cheerleader at CKHS stated. 

“I’m very proud of the team this season; how much they have overcome, their  commitment and motivation towards this team, and their perseverance through a really hard  year. They make me extremely proud to be their coach” Bartlett said.