Searcy (LP) As the 2016-2017 school year comes to an end, the cheerleading and dance teams prepare for their upcoming season by hosting their annual tryout week at  Searcy High School.  This week can be seen as an exciting but stressful time for the girls and coaches.  At Searcy High School the cheer and dance teams always have great girls that represent SHS and who have the skill level needed to earn a position on the team.  As the week begins, each squad goes their separate ways and they welcome in newcomers and returners who are competing for a spot on the new team.  Throughout the week, both teams work on similar things but they are each different in certain ways.

Starting on Monday and through Wednesday, the teams go over everything they need to know for the actual tryout on Friday.  The dance team specifically goes over the fight song, a dance, turns, kicks, toe touches, and the splits and also have to make up a thirty second dance of their own.  All of the seniors on the team run the tryouts and they have to come up with the dance the girls learn and make sure they are doing everything right and learning what they need to by Friday.  After the first day of tryouts, Mrs. Simpson, the Lion Stepper coach, says “The seniors have been doing a really good job and everything has been very organized and it seems pretty calm so far.”  In comparison, the cheer team starts the week with the seniors teaching the girls trying out what they will have to do for the actual tryout.  A dance, cheer, individual dance, and individual cheer are the requirements for the girls who are trying out.  The senior cheerleaders are there to teach them the dance and cheer, and to help the girls with their individual routines if they need it.  As the recent varsity cheer captain, Madison Guthrie feels confident about the upcoming week.  She says, “We have a lot of talented girls trying out this year and I think overall they will have a really good year.”

While the girls trying out have a great time during the week and are anxious about the end results, the senior girls who are leaving see it from another prospective.  Being a part of the dance and cheer team for the past four years can be a hard thing to say goodbye to, however, it seems the girls returning have experience and will have no problem taking over in the upcoming season.  Mrs. Simpson states, “This group has always worked well together and have been very responsible and I think they are going to do great things next year.”  All in all, the week is filled with hard working and determined girls.  If you are interested in seeing who makes the teams, head over to the Searcy High School website to check out the results of the tryouts for each squad!