Who motivates the motivators?
The Mahomet-Seymour cheer squad rallies behind the Bulldogs’ football and boys’ basketball teams from August to March.
That’s after beginning practice in June.
But, who makes sure that the M-S cheerleading team makes it through their long season?
It’s not someone, but something.
The 2017-2018 squad, which includes 17 athletes — five seniors, two juniors, four sophomores and six freshmen — begins the season by setting personal and team goals.
Knowing the girls will not reach their team goals without first realizing their individual goals, coaches Morgan Scott and Bailie Bushman began with the basics, working on stunting, tumbling motion techniques and conditioning when the team joined forces for the first time in June.
The squad worked with a stunt instructor before a two-day choreography camp to create and learn the competition routine.
Scott said that cheering on the sidelines during football games helps the team practice and hone their fundamentals.
Although the athletes have worked long past a typical sport-season’s time, the Bulldog cheer team continues to push through the winter months, practicing three to four days per week while supporting the boys’ basketball team another one to two nights a week.
Then, on the weekends from December to February, the team travels to compete against other squads in preparation for the IHSA tournament season.
The competition season began with first-place finishes at Pontiac on Dec. 2 and Farmington High School on Dec. 16. After winter break, the team came back to compete in the ICCA Championships, which was one of its two team goals at the beginning of the season.
On Jan. 6, down one athlete, the Bulldogs placed 14th.
“[We had to] rework the entire routine in only three days, with only one full team practice due to the winter break,” Scott said. “I am extremely proud that the team overcame this challenge and opted to still compete and put a full routine out on the mat.”
The motivation comes from within, Scott said.
“The team has really responded by putting in the work at practice and not giving up even when it’s been difficult or frustrating. They continue to work on perfecting their skills and technique and want to try new or more difficult stunting sequences or tumbling passes in order to improve. They motivate and cheer each other on at practices, games, and competitions.”
Scott believes it is the close-knit group, led by veteran members such as Haley Beard, Taylor Crowley, McKinley Lener, Sabrina Rochnowski and Hailie Thomas, that has kept the group going.
“Throughout the year, my co-coach, Bailie Bushman, and I have watched this team learn and grow tremendously to become not only great cheerleaders but also outstanding young women,” she said. “They have overcome each challenge thrown at them and stayed strong as a team.”
While the team has pulled together to make it through mid-season intensive camps and workshops, they have also found time to connect while giving back to the Mahomet community, too.
The team took time to man a hydration station at the Mahomet Area Youth Club half-marathon in August, hosted a Little Bulldogs Cheer Clinic in August and to ring bells and collect donations for the Salvation Army at Mahomet IGA in December.
They have also enjoyed themed practices, pasta parties, and a Christmas party together.
“This really lights a fire in them and brings them closer together,” Scott said. “It also allows them to work together to overcome challenges and struggles which makes them a stronger team in the end.”
The Mahomet-Seymour cheer squad goes into the IHSA sectional competition Jan. 27.
If they qualify, they will compete at the State meet on Feb. 3. Qualifying for State is the team’s second goal.
