It’s August and that means a couple of exciting things; for two senior girls it especially means football cheer. I got the chance to sit down and interview two incredible individuals, Makinley Bonesteel and Katie Lanham, about their experiences and life, in and outside of cheer, but also dive deeper and discuss stereotypes in the sport.

This is Katie’s first year cheering; she’s no stranger to extra curricular activities however. Katie said her reasons for doing cheer are, “It’s just something athletic you know and it’s not anything my sisters have done.” She said the most exciting thing is being in front of a crowd and just doing her thing. When asked what was the hardest part of cheer, she replied, “Learning all the motions is harder than I thought it would be. It’s kind of a lot that gets thrown at you at once.” She also said you don’t want to be the person to not know the cheer and stand out brightly. She is enjoying cheer so far though, and is excited about the season. Her response to cheer stereotypes is, “I feel like cheer is usually pretty stereotyped, but it’s doesn’t have to be. A lot of people think that it’s all these perky, gossiping mean type of girls, and that’s not how it is here.” Her plans after cheer season include Drama Club, Aces, Math Team, Scholastic Bowl, and basically all the other school clubs. That’s a busy schedule. I wanted to know if cheer was affecting her schedule; she said, “It’s honestly something I’m used to, I’m pretty good at juggling everything. It’s not that bad because we only practice two times a week, and it’s only for a couple hours. So, it’s not that much to try to fit in your schedule.” Her advice to people thinking about joining cheer is to definitely go for it. 

Good luck in the future Katie!