Seaholm Cheerleading Goes Competitive For First Time in School History

After a five-year hiatus, cheerleading at is back and will be going competitive for the first time.

This seaon marks the second year of sideline cheerleading for Seaholm, after five years without a team and more than a decade without a consistent program. Now, the program has 13 girls: nine cheered during the football season, eight now cheer on the competitive squad and all 13 will be cheering during basketball season.

Seaholm Athletic Director Aaron Frank said Seaholm cheerleading "fizzled out" in 1999. Girls, he said, didn't want to make the commitment to cheering as a varsity sport, and support would evaporate after a few meetings. Since then, girls have approached him every year looking to form a team, with the last serious attempt in 2002. The team disbanded two years later after losing their coach.

When Briana Jones, now a Seaholm junior, approached Frank last year, she initially proposed sideline cheerleading but had something more in mind.

"When I begged the athletic director to start up a team last year, competitive cheering was what I was going for," said Jones, who had cheered competitively before high school. 

Competitive cheer is more structured compared to sideline cheerleading, said Head Coach Jennifer Szura. During competitions, cheerleaders are judged on their technique and skill version.

"We've been working very hard because competitive cheer has to be perfect," said sophomore cheerleader Tia Ware. "We are learning more and we've really improved."

Since there hadn't been a team since 2004, Szura said gaining support from the community and the student body has been difficult. However, the team has seen an uptick in support their second year, and expect even more recognition as they enter the sphere of competitive cheering.

"My guess is that the level of performance at the games will go up a lot in response," Frank said. "I think they will keep getting stronger and stronger, and that is something that the community will recognize."

Szura agreed: "Football season was really great. We got a lot of support from the band and band director."

Funding is still a problem, Szura said, and the team is still growing. Though cheerleaders went to every football game this season, the team will only cheer at home basketball games since they lack the money for transportation.

Szura and Jones said they hope the team doubles in size next year, especially now that incoming students know cheerleading is an option.

"I think the program will continue to grow, especially once they know that it's not going to go away, and I don't think it will," Szura said.

Practice for the competitive squad kicked off Nov. 8, with the team heading to its first competitive cheer competition Jan. 12 at Avondale High School, in Auburn Hills. In total, the team will participate in three Oakland Athletic Association (OAA) competitions and one elective meet.