While competitive cheer is done with going to support MACES basketball and wrestling teams on their games, they have not yet competed. The team is still practicing their difficult routines, including stunts and jumps, for their competition against other schools in March. “I feel like it’s mostly challenging for our captains to come up with the cheers, however it might be a little difficult for everyone to memorize everything,” Alexa Pulido, a junior, said. It is her first year in competitive cheer, but she has some experience since she did sideline cheer last fall. 

     “Honestly, I didn’t feel a big difference between sideline and competitive, just because I felt like I knew almost everyone. If anything, it was a lot easier for me this time because I didn’t feel as out of place as I did during sideline,” says Pulido. 

     Even though supporting their teams on basketball and wrestling games is not really their focus, the cheer team believe it is very important too. “I think it’s important to support all of our Maces sports, as cheerleaders we try to show everyone equal support,” Pulido says. How do the basketball team members feel about the support the cheerleaders contribute with? “I think it’s great that they come out and support us. It’s good to know that we mean something to them for them to even take their time to come to our games. They’re all amazing at what they do, and they’re able to get the crowd going and for us on the court, they give us motivation and drive to do our best,” says Alyssa Maldonado, a sophomore in the girls varsity basketball team. 

     Alexa also shares the reasons why she has enjoyed cheerleading, “I really enjoy going to all the practices, I feel like everyone there has formed a nice bond and has created a safe space for all of us, all thanks to Coach Perfecto and our captains”. 

     “This sport has taught me to be patient and willing to try new things, for example, when we try new stunts it’s always scary at first, but I feel like we all trust each other enough to know that we will be able to accomplish new things together,” says Pulido.