By Natalie Hanna & Karma Paez

The Granada Hills Charter (GHC) cheerleaders cheered “Let’s go, GHC. Green! Black White!” on November 18 when they competed in their first competition of the season. The cheer team won first place in the USA Southern California Regionals. They have spent the last few months working extremely hard to prepare for this competition.

This is the first year the GHC cheer team has competed in the varsity small coed division, as this is the first year they have had both males and females on the team. In previous years, the team competed in the varsity small all-girls section. With their hard work and dedication, they were able to adjust to their new environment.

“Leading up to our performance, all of our team was really scared,” sophomore Brian Wason said. “Obviously the people who have competed before weren’t fazed by it much. This was my first year, so I was scared too. But during the actual performance, it was better because of the adrenaline, you can’t feel the fear.”

The competition typically lasts about four hours. When they entered the competition they signed in and waited about an hour before warming up. During warm-up, they went over their stunts and tumbling, such as handsprings, cartwheels, and backflips. After their warm up they went into the main gym where their performance would take place and waited for their turn to compete. When it was their time, they went to the back rooms and had a team pep talk to hype each other up.

“We will stand in a circle and give each other a pep talk and tell each other to remember to breathe,” senior Natalie Armas said. “In those two minutes of performing sometimes you forget to breathe. We also remind each other that no matter what, keep everything up.”

Once the previous team had completed their routine, GHC cheerleaders heard their names called to enter the gym to perform. They were excited to go out on the mats, hype up the crowd, and give it their all.

Their routine was two and half minutes long and started with a cheer, then led to stunting, and tumbling, and ended with a dance.

After their performance, the team was able to sit in the bleachers and watch the rest of the teams perform. After waiting 40 minutes, the judges selected the winner: GHC.

Leading up to the competition, the team practiced their routine for up to four days a week, including Saturdays at 5:30 a.m. The practices consist of going over steps multiple times and going over basics if needed. They also go over stunts and do “full outs” which is when they go through the whole routine the way they do it at a competition.

“We prepared mentally and physically,” senior Priscilla Villarreal said. “Mentally, we get tired a lot of the time but we are always pushing through. We mostly just want our end result to be us winning. We prepare for it as a team. We want to hit the stunt and win for the team and not just for ourselves.”

To succeed on the mats, the cheerleaders strongly believe that competing as a team is key to their success. They believe in putting each other first and not being selfish. Their ultimate goal is to win as a team and not for themselves. After their first unexpected win, the GHC cheerleaders are excited and determined for their upcoming season.