Thursday, January 11, 2007

Chix cheer for first time tonight

Natasha Lemmen leads Zeeland East in its first year of competitive cheer

By LEO MARTONOSI Senior
correspondent

Lemmen

A lot is on Natasha Lemmen's
shoulders as the only senior on the Zeeland East competitive cheer team.

The Chix are competing in the sport for the first time this
winter. Their first meet is tonight at Muskegon Mona
Shores.

Zeeland
East coach Erica Robinson is proud of the leadership Lemmen
has provided her teammates. Lemmen is the team's
captain.

"She's
been one of our main leaders," Robinson said. "Even though she
hasn't really had any previous competitive cheerleading experience, she's
very familiar with how things go."

There are
three rounds in competitive cheer. The final round involves the most
cheerleaders and is the most difficult.

Judges score
each round, and the final score is determined by adding the three rounds
together.

Lemmen, who began sideline cheer as a freshman, said it
wasn't difficult making the transition from sideline cheer to competitive
cheer.

"I
really like competitive cheer," Lemmen said.
"In some ways the practices are harder than in soccer. Soccer is more
about endurance. You can get hurt more in competitive cheer."

Lemmen has been focused on helping her younger teammates.

"I
need to provide a lot of team leadership, be a team leader," Lemmen said. "I also need to set a strong example
and help Zeeland get off to a good start in
competitive cheer. We're expecting a good season."

Robinson
said things are going rather well for her young squad.

"Except
for a couple of minor injuries I've been very pleased," Robinson said.
"We're very excited to compete for the first time in competitive
cheer."

Zeeland
East is one of three area teams to be fielding competitive cheer teams for
the first time this season. So are Fennville and Zeeland West.