The Revere High School competition cheer team began to better its motions and tumbling skills to prepare themselves for the rigorous upcoming competition season.

The team kicked off its season at the Suburban League competition on Monday, November 7. they took second overall in their competition in the American division. Head coach Kelly Staats explained how the team’s members have grown this season.

“They have a really good chemistry for working together, we only have two seniors so some of the younger girls have to step up and help out more,” Staats said.

Staats, who has been coaching for eleven years, explained what she enjoys most about coaching and how this season compares to last.

“Last year I had six very strong seniors, and I only had 13 or 14 on the squad so the dynamic is very different going from 6 seniors to 2. And I have several juniors so the dynamic is a little different since I don’t have as many seniors as I’ve had in the past, but they all work well together and they’re very willing to work, and they’re all very dedicated. I enjoy watching the girl maturing from a freshman to a senior and I enjoy watching them grow as a person as well as in their skill set,” Staats said.

Senior Lilly Brock, who has participated in cheerleading for twelve years, explained how a typical practice goes.

“[We have been doing] a lot more tumbling and jumps, we also do conditioning and leg workouts. Competition practices are a lot more intense than football and basketball [cheer] practices,” Brock said.

Junior Haley Daubenmire, who has cheered on the competition squad for three years, explained personal things she does to help herself and her team.

“You can go to tumbling practice, and while you are there you can work on your jumps and look at your motions in the mirror to see if you need to fix anything, or if you have a partner for the dance of anything you can practice with them to make sure you are on time for everything,” Daubenmire said.

Staats explained her athletes’ strengths, mentioning as well what the team currently is working to learn.

“Their strengths are that many of them have several years of Varsity experience, both on game day and competition day. They all have tumbling skills, and they are quick learners . . . . We are trying to stretch ourselves as a team and trying to learn new style[s] of dance especially for competition. We are trying to do some more difficult things in tumbling and some more skills while also trying to incorporate the new freshmen in our program,” Staats said.

The team’s next competition will take place January 14 at Shaker Heights High School.