The middle school cheer squad at Somerset Academy Canyons cheered for the first time at Winter Fest on December 2nd, 2022. Coach Dixon has been preparing the middle school cheerleaders since October after the team list was released. The junior cheerleaders had their own booth at the first annual Winter Fest where they had visitors play ring toss.

The middle school cheerleaders set up their booth an hour before the Winter Fest began. There were a lot of different feelings surrounding the cheerleaders, especially the younger ones. “I’m feeling super excited but also super nervous.” said Coach Dixon. There was a great amount of preparation that went into the cheer of the night. “I know we have a lot of young team members on it, but I think that everybody’s really growing, especially people who’ve never cheered before.” Learning a sport can take time. Practice does not make perfect, but it does make progress. As long as effort is being put into it, anyone could master something. 

When working with new team members, creating a bond with each other takes time. Coach Dixon says, “We try to do, once a month or so, team bonding.” To be able to perform well with others, trust is important. Having sessions of team bonding guarantees that everyone learns to work together and put their best effort into the activities they do. The night of the Winter Festival, the cheerleaders got into groups of three and lifted an individual up high. The cheers consisted of “You don’t want no Cougars, you don’t want ‘none, but if you want some Cougars, come and get some.” They chanted for about two hours. This definitely caught the attention of the visitors who were there, and the cheer squad was able to raise an immense amount of money for their funding.

The team had the game “Ring Toss” at their booth.  Customers were able to purchase one ring for one ticket and five rings for three tickets. If a ring was made into one if the ring stands, winners could win a variety of prizes, such as candy or toys. “I loved cheering on the night of the Winter Festival, it was so much fun, and my teammates made it all the more enjoyable.” Victoria Sanchez, a 6th grader on the cheer team.