Kennedy Cheerleading Put on the Map With Successful Season

Almost any cheerleading squad may go partially unnoticed at many high school football or basketball games, but one local team has gained some serious recognition in regional competition over the past few months.

The Kennedy junior varsity cheer squad, a fairly new program in the grand scheme of competition on Long Island, finished in an impressive fifth place out of nine entrants in the large school group at the Long Island Cheerleading Coaches Association (LICCA) Championships. The competition took place on Jan. 30 and was hosted by Hauppauge High School.

Kelly Wehle, a former high school cheerleader, as well as coach at nearby Wantagh High School, took over the JV program at Kennedy just this past season. Wehle is a graduate of CW Post University and has been involved in competitive cheering since the seventh grade. She used her experience to turn around a program that had gone nearly unrecognized, that is until this past season.

“The junior varsity team hasn’t competed in five years so I didn’t know what to expect when starting here,” Wehle said. “A lot of girls were unfamiliar with a lot of things in the beginning of training camp, but they definitely learned a lot. As September hit, I worked them to the bone, and the true success just led from that.”

The girls, including sophomore captain Rachel Martino, participated in the New York Cheer Clinic, a one-week program held annually in Deer Park before the start of the school year. The clinic teaches students all forms of stunting, gymnastics, cheering and any other component to help perform at maximum potential.

“We had a new coach this year who really wanted us to compete and some of the older girls needed to set a good example,” Martino said. “Everybody put in much more effort and just really wanted to be there and they all knew that we could do it in the end.”

Jamie Gross, a freshman, was thrilled with how her first year turned out with the squad, despite not previously knowing the majority of her teammates. Gross came from the Merrick school system and walked into not only a new community, but a new experience with her team as well.

“Everyone worked so well with each other and with that, I hope that JV continues to go to competitions in the future,” Gross said. “It is just really cool starting from nothing, then going to competitions with elite teams and actually succeeding there.”

With fellow Bellmore school Mepham having experience with large turnouts for cheerleading, as well as the opportunity to compete with other schools, Kennedy felt fortuitous to gain that same opportunity in what they now hope will become a longstanding tradition.

“I just always wanted the girls to believe in themselves just as I continue to believe in them,” Wehle said. “I want them to be treated as athletes and have the program really shine. We’re still at the beginning level against some tough teams and it’ll take some hard work and dedication.”

With just two returning sophomores in Martino and fellow captain Arielle Russo, many incoming freshmen such as Leiana Meiberg, were looked at to help build up the program to what Wehle and the Cougar community know it can be and will become in the future.

“We all started from the beginning knowing almost nothing and were able to learn so much from our coach,” Meiberg said. “We have become a great team and really love cheerleading. The teams are just going to get better and better.”

Many of the schools in which Kennedy has competed against this past season have girls who have been in cheerleading since their elementary school years. For Kennedy, the chance to just compete against these girls was a tremendous experience.

With many of the Lady Cougars cheerleaders participating in their first couple years of organized competitions, some going through their first ever, their success is a true Cinderella story.