Healani Brennan
Staff Writer

Incoming cheer members form bonds for new season

Raiders athletics recently had cheer tryouts, producing six new members. Kelly, Raymond, Tony Robbins, Marissa, Hmway, and Sammy are all part of the team now. They have not been together long, but already the team is getting along well.

“We are already like family,” stated Sammy, while Raymond added, “My family is in Hong Kong and the cheerleading team is my second family in America.”

Team goals for this year include mastering stunts and getting the tumbling down. “Since we’re a small team this year we want to prove that you don’t have to be a large team to be super good,” added Marissa.

Some interesting stories come from a couple of members. Two international students are on the squad this year; Raymond and Hmway.

“In my country there is no cheerleading, and I really love to cheer and I love to motivate people so I joined cheerleading.”

Both Marissa and Kelly were on teams at their high schools, but this is Sammy’s first time. “I didn’t get a chance to be part of a team when I was in high school and so I got to college. I always wanted to do cheerleading.”

Once on the team, the schedule is somewhat grueling. “We had to come and learn all of our material. Three cheers, one chant, some stunting and then an entire halftime dance routine in four hours. We then had to go home at nine o’clock at night, practice, and then be here at nine o’clock in the morning and try out,” said Marissa, who did cheer and competitive gymnastics prior to making this cheer team.

Ex-marine Tony Robbins had his tryouts in the hallway, but feels his experience has been a positive one. “I did not know [the coach] from Adam and I was just walking, ready to go home, and she goes ‘Hey, you look pretty strong. Can you do something for me real quick?’ And then she told me to pick her up and throw her. It was awkward to hear that from a random stranger but it turned out to be something beautiful. I met the coolest people in the world.”