Cheerleading is a club at NDP, but really exists as more of a sport. The girls on the team work extremely hard and practice three to four times a week often until five or six in the evening. Before practice can even begin, the girls have to clear tables and roll out heavy mats to practice on. After a quick stretch and warm up, the girls practice the dance, cheer and stunts involved in the routine. A lot of time and effort is put into cheerleading even though it may not get much recognition as a sport.

Jordan Harris 13′ said, “This season has been going good. It’s very different from other seasons because we have so many new members, especially girls that have done cheerleading before in their former schools or at rec centers. The most challenging part of cheerleading is creating or altering cheer formations based on each person’s strengths and weaknesses. Great dancers are in the middle for dance formations, but good jumpers are in the middle for jump formations. You prepare for a sport like this by not underestimating the difficulty and the strength it takes to cheer and stunt. You mentally prepare yourself to stunt and to deal with the possibility of injury. You physically prepare by lots of stretching. I wish people knew that cheerleading is more than side line cheering at games and that it is a sport that takes effort. Our motto is “We don’t throw balls; we throw people.”

Julia Tomek 12′ said, “The most challenging part of cheerleading is stunting. It is difficult for each stunt group to work together to safely put a flyer in the air. You can prepare by doing sprints to increase your stamina. It also helps if you have some experience in tumbling. Stretching is the most important thing to do. It helps you become more flexible to improve your jumps and master more skills. I wish people knew that we work hard and prepare a routine to compete in competitions against other cheerleading teams from schools around the East Coast. A lot of people just think that we yell cheers, but we do a lot more than that. We have to have a lot of upper body strength to lift and throw people in the air. We also yell our cheers while doing stunts and dance moves.”