Cupertino School’s cheer team has been selected to compete in the annual USA Spirit Nationals taking place in Anaheim later this February after qualifying in countless regional competitions. Every year, hundreds of spirited high school cheerleading teams compete to place in the annual USA cheerleading competition. However, the team has collectively decided not to participate this year.

        To qualify, it was necessary for the team to perform a routine and score above a 72/100 on the judges’ scoresheet at a regional competition. The team, in fact, received a score of above 80. In order to obtain such a high score, there had to be zero deductions on the execution of their performance.

        The team has worked extremely hard this year to achieve this accomplishment. Practices were held almost daily to continuously learn new steps to the routine, along with hours of conditioning, which included tons of running and exercises like pushups and crunches in order to get the team healthy and in shape.

       Said sophomore Muskan Shah, “Each day, we added on something new to the routine. The first day, we learned stunts, then the next day we practiced the pyramid or dance. We had extreme practices after we had learned every part and then we would perform the entire routine with music. There was a lot going into it.”

        Despite giving a flawless routine, the team still placed fifth overall as the judges decided their routine was not as difficult as their competitors.

        Said junior Vivian Ellis, “We’re very proud of ourselves for hitting a perfect routine, knowing we have worked so hard. Still, we decided it was best not to go to nationals if we weren’t going to come in among the top teams. We want to go to nationals when we know we’re ready to place over teams all over the country.”

        The team plans on continuing to up their game next school year by challenging themselves with harder routines and by making practices more extreme. Although going to Anaheim for nationals would have been a great chance to present themselves to the competition community, the cheerleaders all have the same goal to continue improving and keep a motivated mindset. Unfortunately for seniors, this was their final opportunity to go to nationals. Nevertheless, they are still grateful for going so much further than they ever had before.

        Said senior and captain Boram Gaudet, “As a senior, I’m kind of bummed that this is my last year in cheer because we just started competing, but I’m also so thankful that I at least had this year. This has truly been the experience I’ve been craving now that cheer is more intense and requires hard work.”

       Receiving a nearly perfect score on a routine and placing in nationals is no small feat. It is an achievement to be proud of and is simply an indication of how much CHS cheerleaders are capable of.