By Stephen Smoot
“They put a lot of pressure on themselves to be the best,” says Rebeca Miller, coach of the Pendleton County Middle School cheer squad who earlier this month earned a Potomac Valley League title.
Miller explained that “as with any team competition, there were a lot of nerves the morning of.” Only a week prior, the Wildcats traveled to Martinsburg High School to compete against a slate of bigger schools offering strong competition.
“We were the only single A team competing” against triple and quad A schools. This “caused a lot of intimidation,” Miller said.
The PVL championships, however, took place in the friendly confines of Pendleton County Middle/High School. To competitors such as these, the pressure is even higher to give a perfect as possible performance to a Pendleton crowd.
Middle school competition preparation commences three months ahead of time. Four days a week goes to practice while they spend the fifth in gymnastics. They learned a 40 second routine “where they are judged on motions, facials, and jumps.”
Next comes an open routine of two and a half minutes, punctuated by stunting, tumbling, and dancing. “It is a long, arduous process,” Miller explained, “to learn a 40 second technical cheer and a two minute and 30 second routine, all the while cheering for both the boys’ and girls’ basketball teams.”
Miller earned high praise from her team’s parents. “This was my daughter’s first season on the middle school squad,” shared Laura Brown, who added “the patience, adaptability, and multi-tasking skills that coach Rebecca has are unparalleled.”
Brown also marveled that “she coaches two squads of teenagers with middle and high school.”
At PVLs, the countless hours of learning, tweaking, then honing their routines to fine precision paid off. “These young ladies,” Miller shared, “were able to accomplish high school-level difficulty in stunting, which is level five.”
The coach gave credit to Raymonds Gymnastics Center, whose assistance made the team “able to score very well on the tumbling portion.”
Miller also said, “The judges complimented them on both their tumbling and stunting ability.” She emphasized the dedication of the team, saying “you put the work in day in and day out, but at the end of the day, these young ladies are the ones on the mat and all the coach can do is sit on the sidelines.”
She said that a few miscues during warmups caused concern, but the team “hit all their stunts and their tumbling when it mattered the most.”
Unlike other sports where fans know the outcome as soon as play ends, “it takes a while to total up all the scores and sometimes the wait time seems like an eternity, which adds to the nerves of the entire day.”
“When they realized they won,” Miller explained, “there were lots and lots of happy tears from all of us, knowing that all their hard work paid off for them!”
Additionally, Victoria Chan and Candace McQuain earned All PVL honors and Pendleton County Middle School received the honor of winning the Spirit Stick. This award goes to the squad voted for by competing schools, indicating which team earned the respect of others.
Unlike varsity sports that last about three months, cheer season extends from August to March. That includes their own competitions, plus supporting their classmates on the field or the court.
Miller expressed appreciation to “everyone for their support of these amazing young ladies. Their future is incredibly bright and I am honored to get to be a part of something so special.”
“I was blessed with some amazing coaches during my cheer career at PCMS and I want to pass that along to these young athletes!” Miller concluded.