By Susan Manning

Staff writer 

Local cheerleading team tracks nationally — that has a nice ring to it.

And that’s exactly what Holliston Youth Cheer has done this year. 

For the first year our team chose to be Nationally Tracked. We took 1st place this year at UMASS Locals and today just placed 1st for States. We are now headed to Regionals in a few weeks and if we are successful there we are headed now to Florida for Nationals. 

What are the ages of those on the squad? 

Our age range is 11-14 year olds  How many are on the squad? 

We have 13 total on our team. 12 are competing to be Nationally tracked.

What does a practice entail? 

We typically start with warming up and move right into breaking our routine apart. We run the routine in its fullness a few times to take mental notes and then break it apart into sections of jumps, stunts, pyramids, and dance portions. Then we pull it all back together!

How many competitions do they attend? 

We actually started our season off at Baystate Invitationals which was an optional competition. We hit a few road bumps days before this competition and actually didn’t do so well. We picked ourselves back up, started our National track with EMASS Locals (locals), then MA States (states), New England Regionals and finally Nationals in FL. There are four competitions being Nationally Tracked. We have currently completed 2/4.

Is the League local? 

New England? 

Holliston Youth Cheer is a part of Eastern Massachusetts (EMASS) AYC Conference. We are a local town cheer team that takes part in the American Youth Cheer (AYC) Association 

How did you all get involved in it? 

Back in 2017, the coordinator of HYC was stepping down with no replacement. Jen Rodenhiser (current coach and mom to one of the girls on our squad) didn’t want to see this happen so she took over the program. Over the next few years she recruited a handful of amazing women and close friends to help build HYC what it is today. Meaghan Alexis was one of those women. Meaghan stayed persistent with me (Melissa Armento) personally about getting involved in the HYC and that is how I became the Head Coach. Melanie Fell and Susie Stuart-Nystrom have also both been coaching their girls as far back as 2nd grade. More than a handful of these girls have been cheering together for many years but so have the coaches. 

What’s the best part of coaching the team? 

I think collectively for the coaches we have heard “I can’t” more times than not and we are at a point where the t has been dropped and they now believe they CAN. Watching the girls grow into believing in themselves and building their confidence has been one of the most rewarding parts of coaching cheer this year for all of us. 

Were there any challenges due to Covid? 

We’ve had a few challenges but no more than the rest of the world. We need to wear masks while we are indoors which is difficult on the team because of conditioning and practicing. It’s tiring to do that with a mask on but these girls are tough! The squad has needed to eat, breathe, and live cheer since August and that also means being mindful that covid is still here so who, when, and how we hang with friends outside of cheer is a constant reminder.  What does it mean to be nationally tracked? 

Competing on the national track offers our athletes the opportunity to advance past local competitions to Nationals. Each competition we need to place in the top 3 to move onto the next. If successful each time we’re given the opportunity to move onto the next competition so fourth. We have placed first at Locals and States. We are headed to Regionals on Saturday Nov. 20. If we place in the top three here we head to Nationals in Orlando, FL!

Is there anything I didn’t ask that you would like to get in? 

Follow the squad and their journey at Holliston Youth Cheer on Instagram and Facebook. We are always looking for new teammates to become part of our cheer family so please know that we welcome you!