National Accolade!

Check out this article and video from the Daily Freeman!  More to follow...

KHS CHEER *\0/*

http://www.dailyfreeman.com/sports/

KHS Cheerleaders PLACE 3RD IN THE NATION!!!!!!!

The Kingston High School Varsity Cheerleaders have placed THIRD in the American School Spirit Awards and FIRST in the northeast!  This award recognizes the top cheerleading programs from around the country.  When choosing a winner, the Universal Cheerleaders' Association (UCA) looks for teams that exemplify community service, outstanding athletic support, spirit raising activities, and high academic standards.

For teams to enter the American School Spirit Award, squads had to submit a book to UCA. In their book, they included a letter of recommendation from their principal, athletic director or community leader, show one or two community service projects/charity work events involving the squad, describe two of their most successful spirit raising activities, list their most notable academic awards/honors, and include a couple of interesting facts about their team.

Last year, the KHS program earned 5th place, so inching closer and closer to number 1 is always an accomplishment.  I'm extremely proud of the commitment this year's team has made to spirit leading and community service projects, as well as the life long lessons they are learning through it all. 

The winners include Coach Lainie Silverberg, Captains Zia-Ne Williams and Mackenzie Goodrich, seniors Kimberly Boice, Jessica Reposa, Ricki Maggiore, Tiffany Coughlin, juniors Brianna Egan, Melanie Hoffay, Aimee Bauer, Demi Politis, sophomores Hatherley Tucker, Megan Hoffay, Molly Gaffney, Tatiana Rodriguez, and freshmen Alex Boudreau and Megan Gillespie. 

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!

The Courage to Tumble

When I first started cheerleading I never thought I would be able to tumble.  Now that I know how to tumble, I don't think I could ever stop.  For me it feels like nothing is happening.  Almost like the entire world is frozen.  Nothing else matters to me.  I put all my focus and hard work into flipping myself over.  I love the feeling of the wind rushing through my hair as I put all my power into landing that perfect tumbling pass. 

As fun as it is for me, it can lead to serious injury.  One time, I was performing a back tuck (back flip with no hands involved) and I landed flat on my back.  I was so scared, nervous, and never thought I'd be able to tuck again. 

But...you just have to push yourself and get over your fear.  I needed to not worry about landing on my back and just go for it.  Once I finally got over my anxiety, it felt like nothing had changed.  I felt it was the regular old tumbling as I have always known it.  That's how I learned to be consistent with my tumbling and to never give up if something bad happens. 

Cheerfully,
Megan Hoffay
Varsity Cheerleader

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In recent years, tumbling has become a major part of competitive cheerleading.  The crowd gets excited to watch athletes defy gravity in a way that only few can truly understand.  Cheerleaders are awarded points based on execution of their tumbling and the difficulty.  There is also a difference between standing tumbling and running tumbling.  It's important that these skills are learned at an early age to allow for proper muscle development and strengthening.  There are tumblers who have learned at a later age and are still largly successful.  As Megan says, it's imperative that you give your all when trying to tumble and be in the right mind set.  Above all, you have to believe it is possible. 

My Team Is a Family

Upon receiving my topic for the blog entry I would have to write, I was dumbfounded.  "Describe how our cheerleading team is like a family", my coach said.  'My cheer team is like a family', I thought to myself.  'But how do I put it into words?'.  The connection that I have with my teammates is comparable to that of two sisters.  My teammates have seen me at my worst: miserable and crying, exhausted and pilly, and agitated and on edge.  They have been next to me during some of my proudest moments: after performing our Home Pom routine for the first time at cheer camp, when we hit our pyramid at the Bon Rally, and even just yesterday, when Mackenzie, Megan, and I did a one-man.

 

It is easy to see who is who in this big 'family' we have.  Coach is the loving but strict mother.  Always there for a concise bit of advice, an encouraging word, or a good laugh.  She scolds us if we forget to do our "chores" (study and practice the dances and cheers we've learned) by assigning some push-ups or a couple laps around the gym.  She nurtures us as a mother does.  She cares for us as a mother does; she is genuinely interested in what is going on in our lives.  She loves all of us just as much as we love her.  We, all sixteen of us, are the sixteen teenage daughters that give her her gray hairs.

 

 Mackenzie and Zia-Ne are clearly the big sisters.  They are the two who are in charge whenever Coach isn't there.  They constructively criticize us as Coach would and praise us when they see us going the extra mile.  They are always fair and everything they say or do is in the best interest of their teammates. Their sisters.  

 

I love my teammates.  When I joined the Kingston Varsity Cheerleading team as a freshman, I was pleasantly surprised to see how close the team really was.  I had come from a team where everyone wanted their own glory and would happily take an opportunity from a teammate to get it.  I wasn't used to teammates praising one other; "that was a good jump, Ha!" You never heard words of encouragement like that on my old team.  On Kingston Cheerleading, us girls truly love each other.  Sure, we bicker and sometimes we don't like each other, but haven't you ever had an altercation with your sister? And after you've made up, don't you leave the situation with a better understanding of each other and therefore an improved relationship?  My siblings are both grown up and no longer live at home, so these girls have really become part of my family.  I love them to death and I promise to keep in contact with all of them as we set out on our own paths throughout life.  Cheerleading has taught me many things: how to jump, how to hit your motions, how to back a lib; things I expected it to teach me.  But I never foresaw that it would teach me how to truly care for someone.  I'm glad it did.

Cheerfully yours,

MollyRose Gaffney