Young group ready to cheer the Jackets, raise the bar
Rockmart High School’s football/competition cheerleaders are glad to be back to work getting prepared for Friday night and upcoming competitions, especially with a region title to defend.
But coach Jean Marie Tibbitts knows it will take some extra work and dedication to win Rockmart’s third region crown. Luckily, she feels she has the right group to make that goal a reality.
“This is my 11th year of coaching, and I would say this is one of the happiest, loving, more unified groups that I’ve been around,” Tibbitts said. “And maybe that’s because COVID taught them a little more to be thankful for what you have. They’re excited to be here.”
Last year affected the Rockmart cheerleading team just as much as any other athletics program, with the Georgia High School Association moving competition season from the fall forward into winter, with the state championships happening in mid-February.
“We started getting really into our competition stuff in mid-October, and we didn’t even learn the routine until after school started. Typically you learn it at the beginning of summer, and then obviously all of that got pushed back,” Tibbitts said.
Rockmart finished first in Region 6-3A over second-place Ringgold, Adairsville and Sonoraville, respectively, before going to the state meet and finishing fourth in Class 4A, the highest the team has finished in its history.
“I’m excited to see if they can step up and do just as good, if not better, than we did last year,” Tibbitts said. “It definitely sets the bar higher after you’ve won because
now I’m like, ‘Oh gosh, we’ve got to do it again.’”
This year’s team is younger overall
than last year’s group, with Tibbitts selecting 15 girls total, the lowest number she has ever had.
But she said the girls’ excitement and dedication to their work makes for a good environment.
“The seniors are a very good group, a group that I’m close to. I’ve had them for four years, and they’ve been very welcoming to the new girls,” Tibbitts said, adding that the older girls have been very insistent to remind the others to let them know if they don’t know how to do a specific cheer or stunt so they can teach it to them.
“They’re very supportive. They don’t really have the ‘I’m the oldest. I know everything’ mentality. They’re really open to help out everybody.”
With the team learning their routine earlier this summer and practices officially starting Aug. 1, the group is working hard to continue their success with faith from Tibbitts.
“They’re definitely willing to put the work in,” she said. “Regardless, I know they will try their very best, and that’s all I can ask.”