By Samantha Trezevant
East Bay High School has been working tirelessly to prepare for the 2020-21 competition season. This showed when its team won the FHSAA Competitive Cheerleading State Championships for the second year in a row.
East Bay’s coed cheer team competed at the state’s competition on January 23. This is their second consecutive win, which was a goal for them this season. They were able to prove their talents and hard work by winning states again.
This team had intense three-hour practices five days a week in order to prepare. Here, they practiced their routine over and over again in order to memorize it and perfect it. These practices not only allowed the team to grow in skill but as a family as well. One thing that this team really values is each other; they value each and every person on the team, and this is shown with their continued success at competitions.
Captain Lauren Linenberger proved this by saying, “We’re more than a team, we’re a family. The love and bond we share is what pushes us to perform with passion and enjoyment. There is no other team that I would rather go back to back with.”
One thing that this team has learned to do is create a goal board. They came up with six goals that they wanted to achieve throughout the year. They sat this list of goals in front of them each practice to remind themselves why they are pushing themselves so hard. The team was able to fulfill their biggest goal of winning states back to back.
Winning states twice has transformed every athlete on this team. It gave them the confidence to score very high in each competition prior to states and to learn from the mistakes that they have made.
Captain Florida Vildibill shows this to be true: “Each year we have progressed and worked harder to bring home a championship. Last year, we took our first state title in the school’s history, and holding onto that title for a second year in a row has an incredible feeling.”
Head Coach Tracy Howard is proud of her team.
“It was a joy to watch this team persevere through such a difficult and challenging year of athletics to win a back-to-back state championship. Their determination is extremely admirable and I am so proud to be their coach,” she said.
