Ahead of the new competition season, Normal West’s cheerleaders are working towards bringing home the Big 12 title for the third consecutive year and making it to the IHSA State Finals.
Every year, all school activities lose seniors to graduation, and cheerleading is no different.
“With every graduating class we lose key members because everyone is incredibly important to the program,” cheerleading coach Kylah Rolfs said.
However, several freshmen have stepped in to fill these vacancies.
Every year, the competitive cheer season is preceded by the summer/football season, which is different in many ways from the competition season, primarily as it relates to the members’ motivation.
“During the summer and football season, us coaches and the athletes have the opportunity to get to know each other while increasing skills and growing relationships.”
“Every athlete has a huge part in the team’s success, especially during competition season. We cannot fully and effectively practice the routine if we are missing just one athlete at practice,” Coach Rolfs explains.
Coach Rolfs emphasizes this, and each athlete knows their role.
“Competition season means it’s go time – it’s our turn to showcase our talent and sportsmanship,” Rolfs adds.
West’s varsity cheerleading team has many goals for the new season, and a key one revolves around camaraderie and teamwork. It is important to the coaches that they be a “close-knit family with no drama.”
If it’s one thing that Normal West’s cheer team values, it is harvesting strong teamwork and a sense of unity.
“Another big factor is the F.A.M.I.L.Y. motto we have,” Coach Rolfs explained.
The word family in this case is an acronym that stands for, ‘forget about me, I love you’.
“Every skill, every motion, stunt, tumbling pass; the expectation is that each athlete does it for the teammate next to them, not for themselves,” Coach Rolfs said.
Normal West’s cheer team will be using their camaraderie and team bond to work toward their goal of making it to IHSA State Finals, and winning the Big 12 Champion title in the 2024-2025 season.
“These goals will require work, but we know it’s absolutely attainable,” Coach Rolfs said.