New Trier High School’s varsity cheerleading team is known for its risky stunts, impressive tumbling, and large performances. While the student body most commonly catches the athletes performing half-time at varsity football during the fall or varsity basketball during the spring, the team also competes in difficult routines at a series of six competitions throughout the winter season. 

The coed team, composed of 17 girls and two boys, utilizes 15 athletes on the mat for their carefully crafted competition routine. While the transition from the fall to winter season is a quick turnaround, the students train year round to ensure their skills stay clean and consistent. 

“We practice in the summer, we practice in the fall, and then finally by the winter is when we’re starting to really put our skills together,” head coach Kelsey O’Kane said. “It truly does take six months to work on [routines] before you’re able to compete them in the winter.”

The most difficult aspect of the routines is the immense amount of material that needs to fit within a respectable 36 eight counts of music. The judges score the athletes based on their ability to execute skills within the performance. The routines involve stunts, jumps, tumbling, pyramids, and choreography, all which must be completed with proper projection, showmanship, and synchronization. All of these difficult, detailed elements get pieced together and practiced to produce a seamless run. 

“It’s a bit of an art and a bit of a science,” O’Kane said. “You have to study the score sheet really well so you can maximize your skills with your level of difficulty…You have to find a way to play to all of your strengths and highlight those strengths throughout the routine.”

The strong community, for many, is what makes the sport of cheerleading so compelling. For junior captain Elizabeth McCallum, competing alongside her friends is one of the most rewarding aspects of the team.

“Once you compete or you’ve had a hard practice but you push through with your team it’s really rewarding to see that you’ve come out of that with the people who are your second family,” McCallum said. “Whenever we hit all of our skills, that’s my favorite part.”

Team culture is key to the group’s success. Spending time with each other in and outside of practice helps bring the athletes closer together and improve their communication on the mat. 

“We try to make sure we talk to everybody and have a positive environment throughout the entire program,” junior captain Sophia Aisen said. “Making sure we are including everybody, whether they’re a freshman or a senior, really connects everybody together in a big program.”

The team works hard to ensure they are prepared to perform. While they only have a short amount of allotted time to warm up and mark their routine, the group works to mentally prepare themselves to compete as well. 

“Before we compete we always go in a circle and get hype with each other,” McCallum said. “We try to get everyone together and we have a mantra we do: we have core values and we always say ‘NT cheer, we not me.’”

O’Kane noticed the group’s enthusiasm and work ethic early on in the season. She is confident in the team’s success in coming competitions due to their respect not only for the sport, but each other as well. 

“I am perhaps more excited for this current team than I’ve ever been in the eight years I’ve been at New Trier,” O’Kane said. “We’ve got a lot of really hard workers [and] some really good people. They are encouraging of each other and I think they’re all really good friends…This team this year really has a true respect for each other and they have each other’s backs.”

Their true love for the sport has shown in the group’s perseverance while trying new skills or cleaning a section of their competition routine. With team practices up to seven days a week during the competition season, along with extra tumbling classes and conditioning off the mat, the athletes show a desire to put on their best possible performance possible. 

“I love competing,” Aisen said. “When you’re competing on the mat it’s such a memorable experience. I’ll never forget it. It’s so fun to compete and be alongside your teammates.”

With sectionals approaching on Feb. 1, the team is preparing to perform a seamless, impressive routine to help them place in the top five, allowing them to advance to State the following weekend. 

“We will [go to State],” McCallum said.