No
cheering in Breckenridge

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

THE SAGINAW NEWS

The Breckenridge
high school competitive cheer program that has dominated Division 4
competition for a decade will not field a team this season due to a lack of
interest.

Deb
Gaines retired from coaching two years ago after leading the Huskies to seven
state championships in eight years.

''We
have a lot of kids that aren't participating,'' Gaines said. ''They're kind
of starting back at square one. It's too bad.''

Stephanie
Willman, a Breckenridge graduate who cheered with Gaines'
teams, served as Gaines' assistant coach for a decade before assuming the
head coaching job after Gaines' retirement.

''There
is just a low number of girls that are interested,''
Willman said. ''It's a shame. I started cheering
when I was in fourth grade. I've never seen anything come through like this,
but hopefully it's just a cycle.''

What
makes the Huskies' inability to field a team surprising, especially for a
team with such a strong winning tradition, is that only four girls are
required to field a competitive cheer team. Boys are not allowed to
participate in competitive cheer.

''We
hung posters and announced it every day,'' Willman
said. ''There just isn't any interest in it. It's heartbreaking.''

''I'm
hoping that in time it will pick up and go,'' Gaines said. ''It's kind of
sad. I think even if I had stayed, the numbers were going to be low. I went
from having 18-20 kids to having 12 or so the past couple years.''

Heritage
coach Lori Ricklefs said that one possible reason
for the decline in numbers is the increase in sports available to girls.

''Let's
face it, nowadays there are so many choices for girls compared to when I went
to school,'' Ricklefs said. ''Now girls have as
many options as the boys, which is a great thing.''

While Ricklefs' team shares gym space with the Huskies'
wrestling team, it shares calendar dates with AAU and rec
teams, as well as drama departments and other school activities.

But, as
the size of team rosters shrink, the number of teams continues to grow. A total
of 323 high schools have competitive cheer teams registered for 2009 MHSAA
competition, a number which has increased every year since the MHSAA first
started holding state competitive cheer competitions in 1994.

''Bowling
and cheerleading are the two fastest growing sports,'' said fifth-year
Merrill cheer coach Courtney Bluemer. ''Most
schools have always had a cheerleading team, but before 1994 it wasn't seen
as a sport. I think the girls appreciate that too. It adds a whole new aspect
when you're competing against other teams.''