Homecoming and spirit week WHB is filled with school spirit, ending with the Friday night football game. For a cheerleader, this week is a totally different experience than the average student. Here’s a look at the life of a WHB cheerleader during spirit week.
Thursday Night
Thursday nights we usually spend tweaking up our dancing and pyramids, wanting to make sure our routine is game day ready. On this Thursday night of homecoming week, we also need to be pep rally ready. We enjoyed some team bonding with a pasta party after practice at sophomore Kara Salvaggio’s house. She said, “I love spending time with my teammates and bonding with them before the game.”
Pep Rally!
Friday, we come to school in our uniforms to represent us as a team. With shortened bell schedules, we are called out of 9th period down to the gym to practice our routine one last time. As we prepare and the gym fills up we talk to each other about how nervous we are. Senior Celia Bonawandt said, “I’m more nervous performing at the pep rally than at halftime, because there is no football game to distract the crowd.” However, when we perform, the crowd gives us energy to hit our routine perfectly.
Homecoming Game
The homecoming game is always exciting for the Hurricanes, stands are packed with students and spectators. The energy of the game and crowd gives us strong energy. For this homecoming game, we had special guests. Around 60 little girls came to a fundraising clinic on Wednesday October 4th. This gave the future Hurricane cheerleaders K-8, a chance to learn a new dance, cheers and stunts.
Andie Mett, a 4th grader at WHBES said “My favorite part of the clinic was about how nice the cheerleaders were and how fun and exciting it was.” Another 4th grader, Etta Mastropierro, said, “My favorite part was hanging with the cheerleaders and doing stunts and learning new dances.” They performed a halftime routine to show off the skills they learned. This was a really special experience for the girls, and the varsity cheerleaders.
At the end of the night, the Hurricanes won 49-28 against Hauppauge high School!
Every homecoming is unique and many things make this one special. Being a cheerleader at Westhampton Beach makes the high school experience even more special.
