A Wrap Up of Hamilton Varsity Cheer Season 2021-2022
Cheer team holds up Trophy in victory moments after winning state. Photo from Kennedy Ellis.
Kennedy Ellis
Bella Taormina, junior, flying a stunt with back spot Qamryn Ross, senior, and the base and front spot Farrah Flucas and Avandra Trujillo, both sophomores. Photo from Kennedy Ellis.
This year, Hamilton Cheer has faced a lot of changes and diversity such as having a new coach, Cortney Erxleben, having 12 seniors graduate the year before, and going from being mainly competition-oriented to both competition and spirit-oriented. Head Coach Erxleben states, “Cheer involves learning about teamwork, overcoming adversity, and finding confidence in yourself as an individual. The team this year faced several challenges including a large exiting senior class last season, roster changes right before competition, and injuries that set back progress, but I think everyone felt a desire to overcome and prove they could be successful despite circumstances.”
With many challenges to overcome, the team has had much to celebrate as their season has ended for the 2021-2022 school year. Sophomore Lyla Baumann states, “Cheer is a very big part of my life. I’ve met so many amazing friends, coaches, and athletes that have all become family to me. Cheer has made me grow as a person and an athlete; I’ve learned to be diverse in skills and adapt to changes quickly. As I grow, I watch my team grow as well, which is one of my favorite parts of cheer–watching the new girls develop skills and become a better athlete and person overall is one of the best feelings.”
Throughout the season, Cheer has been very successful in competitions. Through the challenges of COVID, Hamilton Cheer won a first place title at the East Troy Holiday Competition on December 18, 2021. The team brought home another first place award at the Kettle Moraine Lutheran Competition on January 29, 2022. Finally, Hamilton Varsity Cheer, on February 19, 2022, took home a State Championship Title for Varsity Game Day, making this the fourth consecutive year that Hamilton has won a State Championship.
Even though they've had a very successful year competing, there is much more that went into this season. In reference to the amount of hard work the team puts in, Coach Erxleben adds, ,“As with all student athletes, a lot goes on behind the scenes to make a season successful. The major difference with cheer, however, is that while we are busy working on skills to make a name for ourselves competitively, we’re also responsible for supporting athletics for two sports seasons. So there’s a balance of practice and competition events mixed with game days, making posters/goody bags/locker decorations for players throughout the year, appearing at pep rallies and community events, and assisting with the middle school cheer team to grow the program. There’s a lot that goes on and it’s nonstop from summer until February or March when basketball season ends.”
Cheer team holds up poms for photo after cheering on Charger football team. Photo from Kennedy Ellis.
Throughout the whole season, Cheer supported both football and basketball players by decorating locker rooms for GMC football games, making goodie bags for basketball players before games, decorating basketball locker rooms, in addition to making locker decs. Along with this, HHS Cheer went to every football ‘away’ and ‘home’ game to support Hamilton's football players, and supported both girls and boys at home basketball games. The Cheer team is proud of their role in helping to foster school spirit. Sophomore Farrah Flucas states, “The cheer team is incredibly involved in school activities. Our spirit has really grown at football games and as a result have seen more crowd engagement.”
Charger Cheer team wearing tie dyed shirts that was made during team bonding. Photo from Kennedy Ellis.
Through all of these accomplishments, Hamilton's Cheer team has learned to work together and be able to trust each other in order to be able to do demanding skills that make them the team they are. Senior Qamryn Ross states, “I think it teaches you how to be the best version of yourself for bigger reasons than yourself. I’m proud of how far my teammates have grown both together and individually, especially with a new coach.”
Farrah Flucas, a sophomore adds, “Cheer is a family, it's a place where teammates work hard and learn to trust each other.”
