While at a game, fall or winter, you see the Grayslake Central cheerleaders chanting and getting the crowd hyped for the various Grayslake Central sports teams. The cheerleader’s perfect routines don’t just happen out of nowhere; what many overlook is “all the hot sweaty practices in the small gym,” said senior cheerleader Caitlyn Stevens. When it’s time to perform, the cheerleader’s job is to make the stunts look seamless and easy. However, the preparation for the constant flawless performances during the sports seasons is year-round for the cheerleaders. The cheerleading team is full of pre-routine rituals along with individual superstitions that may be the key factor in leading them to the top five in the state this year.

To prepare for this season, the coaches tried adding some techniques to their training. Head Coach Kelsey Adams said, “as a coaching staff, we re-evaluated two areas of focus this year – our stunt and jump training. We put a huge focus on implementing these changes and the athletes trusted the process.” The coaches understand that what they were doing in the past was not helping them reach their goals, so they needed the athlete’s trust as they changed the way they trained. Stacy Custodio, assistant varsity coach and life-long cheerleader, knows the Grayslake Central High School cheer program well. Custodio explained the tactics they took to change the season training. “We envisioned what we wanted the end of the season to look like and then we started working backward from there, like what are some checkpoints that we’re expecting to see along the way.”This new style of training led to a great season and even a top-five place at State.

Even though the coaches decided to change the workouts, the deep-rooted bond between the athletes continued this season. Custodio said “Our program is really built on tradition,” and over the years they have developed many unique traditions that keep the athletes close. One notable tradition is the sectional team dinner. Unlike other team dinners, the cafeteria is decorated by team parents, and athletes write a personalized note to each of their teammates “expressing gratitude, shared memories, just a lot of personal touches that help create the unified bond as we head into Sectionals,” said Adams. The team also has many little superstitions before each meet like their “eagles,” which is a shout out to an athlete on the team. Throughout the season, each cheerleader received a stuffed animal that represented a positive thing that they did for the team. The team as a whole has numerous traditions, but many individual cheerleaders have meaningful superstitions. Caitlyn Stevens has been cheering all four years at GCHS and has a few good-luck superstitions of her own. Stevens explained that she had to wear the same pair of pajamas before every competition. While these must-do pre-competition rituals have their value, the athletes truly rely on “each rep, each practice, that they put in the work for and that played a critical role in the success we knew we could reach,” said Stevens.

The GCHS cheer program felt an underlying pressure to succeed after two highly competitive years. Adams said, “Cheerleading is an extremely physical sport but most would argue it is an even more mentally tough sport,” which means every athlete has to find a way to handle the stress. The bonds between athletes that they built only helped them grow stronger as the season progressed and their team advanced. Charlotte Glover, a sophomore on Grayslake Central Varsity Cheer, said her teammates push her the most “because they understand what we go through best when we’re on the mat; we all just help each other” and described the welcoming environment she received after she came back from a torn meniscus. This welcoming environment is necessary for anything to work and it can be hard with a team of 16 teen girls. Adams said, “this group found the value in each teammate so naturally. It made for an organic bond that was fun to coach.”

As a school community, we should learn from the whole cheer team and show up for their competitions, just as they do for every other sport. Fans that went to competitions did impact the athletes, and “it helped our athletes feel the support,” said Custodio. The student section played a crucial role in Cheer’s success story and the team hopes it carries out yearly.