Last weekend, the freshman, JV and varsity cheerleading teams attended their annual summer cheer camp at the University of California, Santa Cruz. The camp was hosted by the United Spirit Association and took place over four days.

Throughout the weekend, the girls were taught various dances, cheers and stunts that they had to perfect and be evaluated on. They also attended several workshops designed for them to learn about the game of football, how to effectively lead a crowd and how to be united as a team.

On the last day, friends and family came to watch the girls perform a camp-wide dance, as well as some sideline cheers. To conclude the camp, the USA staff members held an award ceremony, announcing the All-American cheerleaders, handing out spirit sticks and asking a few standout seniors to tryout for their staff next year. The last award of the day was the coveted Unity Award, an honor all the teams at camp vote on. The girls are told to pick the team that they would want to be apart of if they weren’t on their own, and the award went home with Whitney Cheer.

by RYLEA GILLIS