Coopersville,
Huisken make most of small cheer team

Tuesday,
December 11, 2007

By
Jeff Chaney

The Grand Rapids Press

When Nicole Huisken
was a sophomore on the Coopersville competitive cheer team, the Broncos had a
squad of 25 girls.

The numbers are way down just two
years later, as Huisken heads into her senior year
on the team with only nine fellow team members.

"I prefer more on the team
because then you don't have to worry about injuries," Huisken said. "Now you just hope nobody gets
hurt."

A smaller squad could help or hurt
in the logistics of competing in the technical sport of competitive cheer.

"This can make round three
more difficult, but we'll work with it," Huisken
said. "It's not as bad in rounds one and two."

Coopersville coach Kristy Ellis
agrees, and refuses to look at the lack of numbers as a negative heading into
the season.

"Your team can be a little
neater with less girls," said Ellis, who begins
her second year as coach of the team.

"In round three, it may be
better to have at least a full squad of 16, but you can do just as much with
10. Rounds one and two look better with less people, so I think small numbers
can be neater."

Besides Huisken,
seniors Kyra Boman and Briquel
Smoes and juniors Staci Lothschutz
and Diana Bosman form the nucleus of the team.

"I think we are going to be
pretty good," Huisken said. "We have a
lot of talent on this team, and people are dedicated. We should be
fine."

Ellis is ready to see what the
Broncos can do.

"We are small in numbers, but
there is talent on this team," Ellis said. "The majority of the
team are juniors and sophomores, and we have no
freshmen."

Coopersville finished fifth in the
O-K Blue last season, and the Broncos would like to improve on that. But they
know it will be tough competing against the likes of perennial conference
contenders Comstock Park and Sparta.

"I would like to win
conference," Ellis said. "It's hard to say if we can do that
because I haven't seen the teams that have beat us
in the past perform."

If a conference championship does
happen, it will happen with 10 for the Broncos.

"This is the smallest team we
have ever had here, we usually have 17 to 25 girls, but that's OK,"
Ellis said. "We are coming down to the wire now, so we just need to come
together as a team."

Competitive cheer

Conference: O-K Blue

Coach: Kristy Ellis, second
year

2006-07: Fifth in the
conference

Top returners: Seniors Kyra Boman, Nicole Huisken and Briquel Smoes and juniors
Staci Lothschutz and Diana Bosman

Outlook: The Broncos have a
small squad with only 10 girls on the team, but they expect to be
strong.

Coach's comment: "A
small lineup can be good because you can be neater with small
numbers."

Key date: Allendale
Invitational on Jan. 12