Cheer has been around since 1884 and later became a female role when the men were drafted to war, meaning that women filled the role on the sidelines (History of cheerleading. USA Cheer.) Since then, cheer has gained popularity and has taken off all around schools globally. Here at ELARA, our cheerleaders have taken a step into contributing to our school spirit with the help of their coach, Ms. Grace who has worked with these girls from the beginning of each girl’s span as a cheerleader. Cheer has challenged these talented girls to maximize the true potential of their athletic skills such as flexibility, strength, and endurance to practice cartwheels, splits, jumps, etc. Cheer consists of having different girls specialize in different positions including base, front spot, back spot, and flier. Here at Esteban Torres High School, a group of girls are determined and inspired to bring back school pride. The finalized cheer squad of 2023- 2024 here at Torres are Lola, Leslie, Yvette, Michelle, Destiny, Daniella, Kayle,  Rosemary, Marisol, Maite, Keydra, Emily, and Jabneel .

   In discussions of cheer, we know that cheering can be a fun activity, but we also don’t see the behind-the-scenes of cheer to which I introduce you to the Pros and Cons of cheer. Esteban Torres’s cheer team, objective is to promote school spirit in different ways to engage more audiences’ attention by having the team participate in school events and competitions, and by supporting after-school sports games. To start good, cheer has offered skilled young women to feel included in an after-school activity where they can be themselves to learn and practice continuously cheer chants, fun dances, and new routines that are an area of interest of high school girls who seek to do a fun athletic activity with their friends. Some fun things girls enjoy the most about cheer are being able to express their femininity by doing their hair, wearing makeup, dressing up, and a cute uniform. Being part of the Torres’s cheer team is best described as having an experience like no other. It is full of excitement and joy to contribute to school pride through attending our school sports games such as football season, soccer games, basketball games, homecoming games, grad night games, and other significant games that matter most to our school. However, it is controversial that Torres even has school spirit. Among students, the majority of them believe that attending sports games is such a waste of money and time because they claim that the sports teams ‘suck’. The negativity that circulates the school about sports in particular, unfortunately, demeans the positivity that the cheer team is trying to enforce. The irony is that the students want such events to be hosted but don’t even contribute to hosting these events or even show up. Students even critique cheer saying it is unnecessary, that regardless of spirit, our school will lose against their opponents on the field. Furthermore, students urge for activities that they don’t participate in and yet complain when Torres doesn’t host events that aren’t fun enough. Moments like these are very common in cheer but are not addressed which is why it is significant for the cheer team to show resilience by restoring school spirit despite the heavy criticism of others.

    A cheerleader from ELAPA named Lola has had 10 years of experience being a cheerleader and willingly shares in an interview about how cheer became an environment where she showed resilience. “It made me more confident and made me come out of my shell,” says Lola. Lola mentions how she is a different persona outside of Cheer describing herself to be an introverted person when she is not around her usual group of friends that she has made from Cheer. She describes the cheerleading girls as a secondary family to her that makes her feel comfortable talking to them about anything, planning fun activities to do together, and most importantly helping each other with their stunt forms. The cheer team since the beginning had helped build strong bonds, friendships, and sisters who can help each other out in moments when they need it the most. Cheer to her means a place where she can express herself without feeling judged and excluded. She learned that though she wasn’t good at the beginning she was still able to excel from cheer It taught her to have self-confidence, communicative skills, and social skills in hopes to continue cheering throughout college too! 

Esteban Torres High School Cheer will further strive to improve the school’s pride in different ways. In my opinion, I believe that our cheerleading team has true potential and that these girls are off the back doing amazing work regardless of what others have to say. It is important to keep in mind that these girls are consistently conditioning and stretching to be able to perform not just for our school but in other schools, supporting and cheering on our Toros. Being in cheer is a huge responsibility as the sports teams depend on being cheered for only it is a motivation for them now that our school doesn’t have much school spirit. With that said I encourage others too, to come out and support our school sports teams and if possible also engage in activities hosted around school as they are all hosted for the public to see.