NEW BRAUNFELS, Texas -- The New Braunfels High School cheer squad is fresh off a stint at the UIL Spirit State Championships, where they met their goal of finishing in the top 10 out of 70 teams statewide.
- Netflix's "Cheer" has prompted resurgence in cheerleading popularity
- New Braunfels cheer squad finished top 10 in UIL Spirit State Championships
- Competition measures crowd engagement
Cheerleading has been thrust into the spotlight recently due to the insanely popular Netflix docuseries “Cheer.” The show has been taking the world by storm, following a cheerleading team at a Texas junior college in Corsicana on the road to the NCA Collegiate National Championship in Daytona Beach, Florida.
Paralleling what's seen on the show, the New Braunfels cheerleaders similarly put in long hours practicing their routines for one competition, UIL Spirit. UIL Spirit is the sole competition the Unicorns travel to, meaning all the hard work leads up to just a few minutes on the mat.
"You're so nervous because they put in so much work. There's a lot riding on like a minute at a time. And you just pray that they all do what they're supposed to do," said NBHS cheer coach Danielle Richter. "Like they have one shot. And if something falls, you're basically — unless everything else goes really right, you're pretty much kissing your chance at finals goodbye. You know, it's one slip of the foot or one misjudged something and you're done."
Unlike the more performance-based cheer competition seen on the show "Cheer" that focuses on hardcore stunting and tumbling, UIL Spirit measures how well cheer teams can pump up the crowd.
“They try to get the crowd. That's the biggest thing is like having enough energy and spirit to make the crowd want to cheer with you," Richter said. "It's how much spirit do you have? How much energy do you have? How much do you lead the crowd to want to yell with you?”
NBHS cheer captain Taylor Burrell has been cheering most of her life.
"UIL is probably my favorite week of the year because it's just so much fun. We’ve been practicing all year for it and our hard work just finally pays off when we get to go," Burrell said.
During her 12 years in cheerleading, Burrell's seen her fair share of bumps and bruises. Luckily, she's never been dropped from the top of the pyramid.
"One time I got braces in my chin. I got like braces marks cause another girl hit me when I was stunting," Burrell said. "It's so dangerous, like what we do, we’re throwing people up in the air. And we have to trust each other. We have to work together."
The show doesn't hold back relaying the fact that cheerleading is a dangerous sport, as well as a mentally and physically exhausting one. Girls are dropped several times, and in turn, Coach Monica has the team drop into 50 pushups.
"In that show, I mean you see people get like crazy hurt because some minor thing goes wrong," Richter said. "And you try your hardest but when someone's coming down at you with elbows — gosh, the number of bloody lips or black eyes, or teeth marks that girls end up with is crazy. I mean, you see the articles about how dangerous cheerleading is. And it is. You're holding up a human in your hands like up past your head, so there's a lot of stuff that can go wrong and they work really hard to not ever let anyone hit the ground."
Richter and Burrell both want people to understand cheerleading is more than just being on the sidelines during a football game.
"It is really hard. I mean, just their UIL routine alone, like three minutes of solid stunting and cheering and chanting and yelling and spiriting. I mean, it takes it out of you. You definitely have to be in good shape," Richter said.
And on top of learning their UIL routine, throw in before and after school practices, several pep rallies, and traveling to and from athletic events.
"Like we don't just cheer on the sideline, like we do so much more than that. And we put in so much hard work in our practices," Burrell said.
Another aspect the show touches on, which Richter said is absolutely correct, is the fact that after high school, there's not many opportunities to further your cheerleading career.
"You know I feel like it's really hard to cheer in college, just because it is something that doesn't offer a lot of scholarships. There's not a lot of places. There's not a lot of room. Cheer teams are small," Richter said. "High school is the best place for cheer. You just get the most out of it. And then college is awesome too and it's a different kind of cheer. Like most of the college cheerleaders are insane athletes that have to put in so much time and effort. And a lot of kids, I feel like, after high school just want to be able to enjoy their college experience."
While Burrell still has another year and a half at NBHS, she already knows the cheer journey won’t end when she walks the stage.
“I was thinking about working at a cheer gym in college, so I can still I can be a part of it. I don't want to leave because I've been doing it forever and then just stopping after my senior year would be really sad,” Burrell said.
NBHS Cheer is holding tryouts soon for those looking to follow in Burrell’s footsteps. A mandatory meeting will be held February 6 at 6 p.m. in the gym.
Canyon High School cheer also finished top 10 at the UIL Spirit competition, taking home 5th place with a score of 86.30.