El Camino cheer gets ready for yet another season

“School spirit is what really matters when it comes down to cheer,” Beth Corbett said.

El Camino Real Charter High School held a mini try out for girls who have been newly enrolled into El Camino and did not receive the opportunity to tryout for cheer in the spring. Corbett is giving all these girls a chance to show what they are capable of doing on Aug. 23.

Strong cheerleading skills, great school spirit and enthusiasm is what Corbett is looking for in her girls this season. This year, El Camino will have a big JV cheer team which excites Corbett because it will give the girls an opportunity familiarize themselves with all the school events going on.

Friday, Sept. 1 will be El Camino’s first football home game and Corbett encourages everyone to go and support not only the football team but the cheerleaders as well.  Along with having new girls, the team will also have new dance routines and different types of dances combined into their routines which will be something fun to look forward too.

Most school sports teams have rivals such as El Camino vs. Taft or Reseda vs. Canoga.

“We don’t have any rivals we just get together to cheer and have fun,” Corbett said.

The cheer team at El Camino on the other hand is completely different from most rivalries. During halftime, whether it be at a basketball or volleyball game the ECR Cheer girls go to the other side with the other team exchanging candy, dance routines and friendship. After this little “tradition” both teams get together in unison and cheer together for both teams. With little time to prepare for their first event, the girls will have to find a way to get come together as a team.

This year, senior captain is Jade McDermott.

“Being the varsity cheer captain is harder than it looks,’’ McDermott said.

McDermott’s final goal this year as cheer captain is to make the team look more put together and to be stronger as a team. When attending middle school at Hale, McDermott was also a cheerleader  and enjoyed coming to the games at El Camino.

She said that seeing the cheerleaders at El Camino inspired her to try out freshman year. She remembers thinking that the girls looked “legit” and “official” and seeing them made her want to be part of the team.

Since McDermott is a senior, she is mainly excited for all the senior events at El Camino; such as senior night and the homecoming game. During the halftime of the homecoming game all the cheerleaders get their crowns as well as their recognition of hard work. McDermott would describe her final high school cheerleading year as bittersweet. Although it is her last year, she said she is excited for college and eager to try out for her college’s cheer team.

Besides McDermott, junior Brenda Lee is also captain of the varsity cheer team and together their goal besides creating a strong team is to make a comfortable environment for the girls and to help them in any way possible.

Just like previous captains helped Lee in getting stronger within herself and coaching a team of girls, she hopes to set an example for everyone on cheer.

“I am dedicated to cheer and I am always working to improve myself” said Lee. This is what made her stand out apart from the rest of her colleagues and what got her chosen as captain during their summer practices.

Just like McDermott and the entire school, Lee’s favorite school event is the homecoming game and enjoys football season as well. Lee is very excited and looking forward to the Welcome Back parade because it is the girls’ first performance as a team.