This school year at San Marcos is different and new in a variety of ways. New girl’s flag football team, bell schedule, leadership classes, and school spirit initiatives set this year apart from past ones. People especially affected by these changes are members of the Varsity Cheer Team. Who now, in addition to cheering at both home and away Friday football games are cheering for girls flag football, performing at new mandatory school-wide rallies, and continuing to participate in community events.
The team is much larger than last year having over 30 team members that range across all four grades. Cheer also has the longest season out of any sport at San Marcos. While they are filed under Fall Sports, it is really a fall, summer, and winter sport. Having started their summer practices in early June and continued throughout the summer, they will keep cheering through boys football and girls’ flag football season until late October, and both girls’ and boys’ basketball season until mid February.
“I would hope cheer can get the recognition that it deserves, because we have a lot on our plate and we always manage to show up and be there.” said Senior and Varsity Cheer Captain Bryanna Alvarado. “The team is already so close and there is no tension like there’s been in the past.”
With a larger team than the past few years, cheer coach Adaline Macgregor brought on new staff members for both Junior Varsity and Frosh. With the addition of three new coaches, and being led by four senior captains, the Varsity cheer team has been able to perform at the rallies on Friday’s, prepare halftimes for the football games, and begin attending the girls’ Varsity Flag Football games.
One event coming up for cheer is the Walk to End Alzheimer’s on Saturday October 14th. Over 200 people participate each year in this event and work to raise $185,000 to donate towards the care, support, and research done by the Alzheimer’s Association. Cheer has been attending this event for years, working to motivate and empower participants to walk as long as possible to raise money. This is one event of many that cheer attends to support the community around them. The team is a staple at events like freshman orientation, Sb-unified staff events, Westside Kickoff, and they even attend some San Marcos High School reunions.
Cheer works to set an example for San Marcos students and motivate them to strive for both academic and athletic success. Coaches consistently check grades of each cheerleader, and a D or F grade warrants suspension from practices and games until it is changed. Many cheerleaders are part of school academies and enrolled in AP classes.
So when you see the cheer team at rallies, games, or around school in their bright red uniforms, know that they work much harder than they often get credit for.
