The fall’s Friday night life is a classic American high school tradition: football, fans, and (of course) the cheerleaders. Beyond raising spirits on the sidelines in the fall, the Upper Perkiomen High School’s cheerleaders are active elsewhere. In fact, this winter, they participated in and won a competition.
This competition, the Hatters Cheer Challenge, was hosted by Hatboro-Horsham High School. It included separate divisions based on the school size and whether or not they included tumble. The Upper Perk cheer team successfully won their division.
The coaches partially attribute this win to their practice. According to assistant coach Ms. Wolfgang, the team began preparing for the competition back in the fall. She went on to add, “We hired a choreographer that made our routine for us, [which] we got back in November.” The girls also took time to train in the gym and at practices in preparation.
Sarah Hachen, the team’s head coach, told the WSJ that despite challenges like illness, the team was able to pull together to create a performance they were proud of. She went on to say, “I am immensely proud of the adaptability and resilience these girls displayed; they were willing to do whatever it took to succeed.”
Outside of competition, the team also cheered for girls’ and boys’ basketball games. To cover all cheer events, the team splits into two groups: the “Comp” and “Spirit” teams. While the Comp team practices for competition, the Spirit team focuses more on fall football and winter basketball games. Wolfgang explained that “not all the same girls that are on the spirit team are on the [competition] team” and that the girls can choose what they want to be a part of.
Although the competitive team performed well this year, they are not sure what next year will look like. Ms. Hachen also told the WSJ, “While we are uncertain about competing again next year, we are confident that you will see big things come from this team.”
