Of course, for fall and winter cheerleading, you are cheering for two different sports. Depending on the weather and which sport you like better, you may develop a favorite. The sports you play during the off-seasons may also affect which season you prefer.
During the fall season, you’re cheering for football. Lights all around you on the field at night time can be a very pretty setting. Nothing compares to the student section at football games. Football is a very popular sport, which means people come to see the games from all around. This could be a positive thing if you like being the star of the show.
Football being in the fall season means the weather is getting chilly. Your hands start to numb preventing you from lifting stunts and making simple cheers uncomfortable.
Sports preventing students from doing both winter and fall can also prevent those athletes from their wanted social life. Athletes participating in another sport may also lose their skill set due to another sport but they also may gain some.
Winter cheer at Oakmont is cheering for basketball. You may not have to worry about the weather, but you do have to worry about the temperature inside the gym. After both JV teams- boys and girls- play the gym gets sticky and develops a strong odor. People pile into the gym to watch varsity adding to the hot air.
Being not even a foot away from your fellow cheerleaders in a sticky gym with a tight long sleeve does not help with the humidity, sweat stains may form. Oakmont cheerleaders also receive a small part of the bleachers which adds to the humidity they´ll feel.
Although cheering for basketball isn’t all that bad, being close to the student section makes the students even acknowledge the cheerleaders. The basketball team can hear us since we´re in the bleachers. Not having to stand the whole time is one of the best things.
Oakmont Sophomore, Arden Rosbury has done both fall and winter cheer since freshman year and says “Winter cheer with our matching bows, shirts, and skirts is so cute and fun, I love it, and the cheers are better since it’s not so cold.”
One thing that both sports have in common is fundraising at the games. At Oakmont High School we compete both in Fall and Winter, with a varsity and JV. Of course, the spirit for both fall and winter are the same and the friendships you make on the way don’t go away.
Even though you may enjoy one season more than another, cheer is a great sport including a variety of talents.
