“I had a lot of misconceptions about cheerleading coming in,” said senior Darius Verdell. “But doing it for the first time in my life, I’m like, ‘Wow, these cheerleaders, they work hard, and this is indeed a sport and it’s a contact sport.'”

            The Quaker cheerleaders are driven. 

This year, the team is hoping to compete in a national competition.

“We’ve mainly been working just on game stuff but we went to a camp recently and worked for about six hours,” said senior Kayla Davis. “We just worked on the basics. Once we get the basics we can build on that.”

This is a particularly ambitious goal when you consider that Guilford has only had cheerleaders for a few years.

The new cheerleaders have much to learn.

“That’s the main thing, working on the actual technical stuff that accompanies cheerleading,” said Verdell. “I just need to work on my jumps.”

No matter how long they have been cheering, everyone seems enthusiastic about competing.

“I’m really nervous,” said senior Bethany Hawks. “I’ve never competed like this; I’m used to [other] sports, but I’m excited and eager about the new challenge.”

According to Melissa Towery, one of Guilford’s two cheerleading coaches, the team will need to make a video demonstrating their skill to qualify for competition. She believes the team is capable of qualifying.

“It depends on how hard [the team is] willing to work,” said Towery. “If they are willing to work, they’ll be ready. They can do it; they have the skills.”

It seems that the team is ready to work for a place in competition.

“We’re trying to get a better reputation for the squad on campus and impress everybody,” said junior cheerleader Lauren Duncan.

This determination to be recognized is echoed by junior Renee Spence.

“[Cheerleading] is definitely a sport,” said Spence. “A lot of people don’t think cheerleading is a sport. They think that we just wave pompoms around and look cute, but we do a lot of hard work and we definitely deserve to be seen as as much of a sport as anything else.”