BATTLE GROUND HIGH SCHOOL Competition Cheerleading Team, from left to right: Front row: Tiffany Jara, Mary Scott, Lexi Cart, Shelbie Atwood, Olesa Kopytko, Vanessa Lopez, Hannah Dollar, Michelle Baker and Erica Brown; Back row: Brandon Hogan, Kenzie Zwiefelhofer, Janee Cripe, Liz Sayti, Elizabeth Kohout, Hannah Rightmire, Sydney Furth and Tyler Hogan; Not pictured: Alyssa Densmore, Mary Kerle and Allie Sherman.
Although not too many schools in the North Clark County area participate in competition cheerleading with their school’s cheerleading squads, Jill Harris, cheerleading head coach at Battle Ground High School, said the Battle Ground squad continues to participate in competitions in addition to the sideline routines they perform at different sporting events.
“I feel competition is important for the team and gives them something to strive for,” Harris said. “Sometimes the students don’t always feel appreciated by the school and competition gives them something else to feel good about.”
Harris said students at Battle Ground High School try out for the competition cheerleading team, and they are not required to be on the competition team if they are on the school’s squad. Tryouts for the competition team were held in October and Harris said out of the 19 girls on the varsity squad, she was originally only going to have 16 of them on the competition team. However, she said they have since added two boys to the team, which puts them in a different category for competitions, enabling them to have 20 on the team.
Competitions for the cheerleading team officially start in November and Harris said they participate in about three area competitions and then they must qualify for the state competition by receiving at least 175 points total out of 300 during the combined earlier competitions. Harris said her team has qualified for the state competition each year, which will be held this year Jan. 26. Harris said the school will help pay for transportation and other expenses if the team qualifies for the state competition, but squad members have to pay for everything for all of the qualifying competitions.
“When a school chooses not to have a competitive team, it usually goes to money,” Harris said. “It’s all pretty much extra money and if we qualify for state, we get funding from the school, but for all the other competitions (cost of travel, etc.) we have to do the fundraising ourselves. The competition team requires the kids to go above and beyond because they do harder stuff, which requires more practice time in addition to performing at games.”
Harris, who is in her sixth year as cheerleading coach at Battle Ground High School, said her team got second place at the state competition three years ago.
“Every year we keep improving,” she said. “We also give out lots of trophies, but every year we go up at least 10-15 points. Competition cheerleading is so subjective. It’s one of those things where you do your best and hope it’s what the judges are looking for.”
Harris said one of the biggest disadvantages of competition cheerleading programs in the Battle Ground area is the fact that there isn’t really any sort of feeder program for younger children who want to get into cheerleading before high school, so the high school students come in with little to no cheerleading skills. Unless parents put their children in an all-star cheerleading program when they are younger, there’s really no way for them to gain the skills necessary.
Harris said her cheerleading squad usually practices about 3-4 times per week, but they will cut down slightly now that basketball season is underway. She said they will probably practice two times a week because they will also be cheering at about two games per week.
The Battle Ground High School cheerleading team does several fundraising activities throughout the year, including their main fundraiser, a mini cheerleading camp for children in kindergarten through fifth grade. This year’s mini camp will be held on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Mon., Jan. 21, 9 a.m.-2 p.m., in the Battle Ground High School cafeteria. Participants will then perform on Tues., Jan. 22, at the girls’ varsity basketball game with the pep band. Harris said this is a popular fundraiser and they usually have about 80 children participate.
Other fundraisers the cheerleading team does include selling cookie dough, fundraisers at area restaurants such as Mill Creek Pub, Laurelwood and more, a summer mini camp and selling Krispy Kreme doughnuts at football games.
Anyone interested in having their child or children attend the mini cheerleading camp fundraiser on Jan. 21 can pick up a registration form at the school office at the high school, 300 W. Main St., Battle Ground.
