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Lawrence Pop Warner Cheerleaders
Katie Morris, Student Correspondant

When cheerleading comes to mind, what is the first thing you think of? Cute little girls in short skirts cheering at a football game, or maybe the cheerleaders throwing a girl high in the air to impress the players? Well, whatever your opinion happens to be, right or wrong, that’s not all cheerleaders do! The Lawrence Pop Warner Youth Cheer Squad (known as the Hurricanes) takes girls from all over Lawrence and trains them to be the best cheerleaders they can be. Sure, we cheer for the football players, but we also compete against local and statewide teams. Their teams usually compete at the novice division, which is then followed by intermediate and then advanced. In 2005, D, C, and A-teams (separated by age, A-team is oldest) all went to the Merrimack Valley competition. However, only the A-Team advanced to the Eastern Massachusetts competition at the Tsongas Arena. There, they placed third and were invited to regional competition at the Worcester DCU Center. At this event, they competed against seventeen other teams and placed third. Sadly, they did not move on to the nationals in Florida because only the top two places could advance.

In 2006, the hopes were high for the A-Team to receive another MVL (Merrimack Valley League) title. When practice began in August, they had about fifteen girls and most of them were new to cheerleading. They began to practice, but soon the team began to lose hope. They had now found out that most of the stunting and tumbling they did last year could not be done because of a rule change, including full extensions,when the flyer (the girl in the air) is raised all the way above the bases’ (those who lift the flyer) heads, and back handsprings. The team also had new girls coming on to the team late which caused our coach to have to teach everything over again. And to add on to all those problems, they also had a new flyer and new bases. Almost everyone was feeling the pressure.

After a few weeks, three girls left the team. The rest of the team had to change every routine because places had to be moved and parts had to be changed. Not to mention that this was the week of choreography for competition. Nonetheless, they sorted everything out and the new routine was learned. They practiced 3 hours a night, 3 nights a week. But the work had just begun. It was only 3 weeks until competition. The routine was changed countless times, and finally when everything was set in stone, the only thing left to do was practice, and little did they know the practice would pay off.

The Merrimack Valley competition was at Methuen High. At the competition, the girls were only competing against two other teams: Sudbury and Lowell. They had no idea what to expect, and even better, they were up first. After the high school and the Billerica E-Teams had exhibitioned, it was finally time for the Hurricanes to show their stuff. They had a legacy to uphold. All the hours of hard work were going into 3 minutes of a routine. No one knew what would happen. After the routine was over, they were sent to the back until all the teams had competed. This was the most nerve-racking time for the girls. Then it was time for the awards.

When the hustle and bustle of getting a hundred cheerleaders on the floor was over, it was now the moment of truth. During the B-Team awards, the excitement was so high that it could be felt buzzing through the air. You could see the anticipation on the girls’ faces. Then it was time for the A-Team results. 

“Ladies and Gentlemen, your first place Merrimack Valley Champions are the LAWRENCE HURRICANES!” the announcer cheered. The girls had truly done it. Defying the odds and people’s expectations, they were the MVL champs two years in a row, and now their next task was Eastern Massachusetts.

To Be Continued…

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The December, 2006 Edition of the Valley Patriot
The Valley Patriot is a Monthly Publication.
All Contents (C) 2006, Valley Patriot, Inc.
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