Sideline Dance Shows Jr. Raiders' Unity

About 200 girls—ranging from kindergarten age to eighth grade—stood on the field at the Triangle Football and Lacrosse Complex, waiting for music start. As the song boomed over the football field, the Junior Raiders cheerleaders began moving in unison, performing a routine that they’d spent the season perfecting.

“Our competition team is teaching them a common sideline dance that they can perform during games,” Mary Riccardi, Competition Team Director, said. “Then, they are going to perform it as an organization for their parents in October.”

The idea to perform a common dance began in 2010, when the cheerleaders learned and performed a dance at their October exhibition. This year, the directors decided to teach the squads earlier, allowing each to perform the dance throughout the season.

“This year, we wanted to have a night where they are dressed alike, doing the same thing,” Riccardi said. “This is a spirit night, a night for them.”

“The biggest challenge was picking a common practice outfit for them and getting them sized right,” she added. “After that, it was simple.”

Learning the one-to-two-minute dance, set to the Black Eyed Peas’ “I Gotta Feeling”, also allows the older girls to take a leadership role. It’s the dance the older squads performed in 2010—choreographed by Coach Christy Kanaby—so the older girls spent part of the evening working with the younger cheerleaders.

“The little girls look up to the older girls as role models and teachers,” Riccardi said. “It gives the older girls an opportunity to be role models. It sets them up to understand what being a role model is.”

“It gives them a good chance to be teachers and mentors,” Camie Johnson, Junior Raiders Director, said. “It helps with their self confidence and they learn to volunteer.”

The organization’s show of unity embodies what the program teaches its cheerleaders.

“Our program encourages mentoring,” Johnson said. “A lot of girls start with us in kindergarten and come back as junior coaches in high school. Our organization, as well as others in town, is about volunteering.”