For the 2024-25 school year, our high school cheer program saw incredible growth in teamwork, leadership, and overall athletic development. Sticking to our usual gameday traditions, girls also focused on the difficulty and precision of all athletic skills such as tumbling, stunting, and jumping. We had 12 total students involved for football season, with five seniors: Ava Burger, Ava Jensen, Taylor Johnston, Addison Keaveney, and Ashley Smith. Basketball season consisted of 10 girls on the court, and all seniors involved but Addison.
Athletes attended two college stunt camps, one at Ashland University in the summer and another at Walsh University in the winter. These experiences allowed us to refine our skills, learn from college students and coaches, bring home new techniques, and open the door to more recruiting information.
We held multiple fundraisers to help families with gear and material cost, as well as team bonding days and a successful youth camp with 32 girls in attendance. For the first time at DHS, we hosted a "Bring a Boy to Practice" skills practice where the girls chose a boy to bring and teach them how to jump, tumble and stunt; It was a fun and engaging way to show other athletes what we do other than cheers.
Beyond the season, we are especially proud that our program is helping cheerleaders continue their journey beyond high school. Two of our athletes this year received college opportunities and one will help coach young athletes. Both Ava Jensen and Ashley Smith were recruited for NCAA women's college STUNT where they accepted academic and athletic scholarships. Ava will compete at Malone University and Ashley will compete at Lake Erie College. Taylor Johnston will use her organizational skills and knowledge to keep the program going with younger girls.
Our junior high squad was so great at helping to increase school spirit, crowd engagement, and student participation with raffle prizes and traditional cheers and interacting with the crowd well. Some of these girls will move up to cheer in high school next year as we continue to support other sports and increase school spirit while developing athletic talents.