Seniors setting pace for CHS cheerleaders
Keeping the crowd’s spirit up at football games is one of the things cheerleaders do during football season.
Cedartown High School football/competition cheerleading coach Kim Allred is seeing how a group of girls on her team is also keeping the rest of the group’s spirits up as well.
This year’s Cedartown cheerleaders include nine seniors, more than half of the girls who will be both cheering on the sidelines on Friday nights and competing in competitions on Saturday mornings this fall.
Allred said the advantage to having so many experienced cheerleaders has been evident from the start of practice.
“They’re just running themselves. They step up, they figure out everything, all of the details. If they don’t like what they’ve done out there on the mat, they are the ones that encourage each other to go again,” Allred said. “I couldn’t do it without them. They’ve been really good role models for these younger ones. They’re strong this year. It looks good.”
This year’s seniors are some of Allred’s first group when she became the cheerleading coach four years ago after Brigitte Tillery stepped down. But Allred said having all of the girls on the team be with her has been special.
“So I’ve had them since they were ninth graders, and now they’ve all cheered for me now, so they’re special to me because I’ve had all nine of them since they were freshmen. They’re a good group of girls,” Allred said.
After last season, which saw athletics and school activities canceled or shuffled around amid the coronavirus pandemic, Allred said she hopes this year will see things get back to something more normal for the school year.
“Last year we had no pep rallies, we had to wear masks everywhere, and I don’t know if it’s going to get back that way but I’m hoping that we’ll get to go back to
pep rallies at school and just show a little spirit,” Allred said.
One thing that is getting back to normal this year is the return of the competition cheerleading season to fall. Normally held during the fall season, the Georgia High School Association moved competition cheerleading back to begin in late November last year, making it closer to a winter sport.
The result was a very extended season for Allred and her team, with tryouts last June, going through most of the football season, and then starting competitions. State championships were held in midFebruary.
Cedartown finished region runner-up to Central-Carroll at the Region 7-4A competition while placing ahead of Heritage-Catoosa, and Ridgeland. They came in sixth at state in Class 4A.
“It was every day coming in here and trying to lift their spirits because they were just exhausted after that long of a time,” Allred said. “Their vibe is so much more positive this year and they’re just ready to win.”
Allred said the girls have been working hard outside of practice to increase their skill level with tumbling classes in order to be more prepared to do a more difficult routine.