Sunday, March 12, 2006

CFP Troy

The rah-rah girls

Practice makes perfect for Rochester High's
champion cheerleading team

May 14, 2006

·

BY BILL LAITNER

FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

Breianne Thompson, 16,
practices tumbling. Forget stereotypes, she said: "We're true
athletes."

Their season was done in March when they won
the state championship. But the rewards and honors continue, along with the
rigors and challenges, for the top-ranked cheerleaders at Rochester High School.

Last week, varsity team members gathered in
front of the Rochester Hills City Council. Decked out in their royal
blue-and-white uniforms, team members received written proclamations of
praise and thanks from the city.

The next day, many of them spent the hours
after school engaged in outdoor sports -- track, softball and soccer. But
some were back on the big blue mats inside the school, practicing their
tumbling while mentoring younger cheerleaders, all under the watchful eye of
coach Susan Wood, now in her 25th season. She has coached the team to 10
Michigan High School Athletic Association competitive cheer state
championships.

"We tumble weekly, year-round, although
it's optional. They really enjoy conditioning all year long," Wood said.

"Of course, it's amazing to me how
quickly some of them move on to other sports. But I think when you have a
championship attitude, that carries over into other
sports and the rest of your life."

Rochester Hills High School cheerleaders work
out. Clockwise from bottom left: Liz Handler, 15; Paige O'Shea, 16; Sarah
Tilden, 17, and Erica Hubar, 16. Paige O'Shea, a
sophomore from Rochester Hills, said the sheer rigor of cheerleading makes
academics seem, if not easy, at least manageable. "Math, you know, is
hard," she said. "But this, this is harder." (Photos by
RICHARD LEE/Detroit Free Press)

"They've been taught to be meticulous, be
thorough, and never settle for anything less than the best. So, being state
champions may have happened in March, but they're behaving that way all year
long," she said.

The same words echoed around Wood -- from the
teen girls who tumbled, spun and flipped, then told how cheerleading has
become central to the culture of their high school, and central to their
lives.

Sarah Tilden, 17, of Rochester Hills, who was
on this year's championship team, said she and the team are used to
school-year practices that start at 2:45 p.m. and run until 5:30 p.m. or even
later as they approach competition.

Come summer, they'll meet at the school track
and continue practicing each weekday, Sarah said.

"A lot of us don't want to go on summer
vacations with our families. We don't want to miss practices," she said.

Breianne Thompson, 16, of
Rochester Hills, in plaid boxer shorts emblazoned with the school's
"RHS" initials, said that despite the demands of the sport, her
grades actually went up as she got more involved in cheerleading.

"The old stereotype for cheerleaders is,
'Oh, they're just ditzy, it's not really a sport,' " said Breianne, flushed from tumbling. "But
we're true athletes, and we have such a reputation to hold up here.

"Tumbling is all mental strength, all
about courage," she explained. Conquering her fear on the mats will, she
is sure, someday help her reach her career goal: to be a teacher.

"This has definitely taught me how to
work under pressure, in front of other people, and not to crack," she
said.

When cheerleaders graduate, some go on to
cheer in college. Shannon Marconi, 17, of Rochester Hills, a junior who also
was on the winning team, hopes to get a cheerleading scholarship. Pulling her
toward that goal are not only the skills she has learned but also the
"life lessons our coach gives us after every practice," Shannon said.

"She tell us
things like 'Motivation is temporary. Drive is forever.' "

Paige O'Shea, 16, a sophomore from Rochester
Hills, said that the sheer rigor of cheerleading makes academics seem, if not
easy, at least manageable.

"Math, you know, is hard. But this, this
is harder," she said, grinning and gesturing to the school's huge
sky-lit room called the Mall, where girls were doing flips and an agonizing
form of backward situps called V-ups.

For most students, cheerleading ends after
high school. But the years of practice and competition still resonate, said
Kelly Brumagin, 19, who has finished a year at Lansing Community College
and will enter Michigan
State University
this fall.

Members of the
28-cheerleader squad that captured the 2006 state championship show off
their medals. (RICHARD LEE/Detroit Free Press)

She no longer dons a uniform to leap, flip and
yell, "Falcons, go!" Her blue-and-white
letter jacket hangs in a plastic bag, competition medals still on it.

But Kelly was at last week's tumbling
practice, mentoring younger girls. And the larger lessons of cheerleading
still rule her life.

"It's actually helped me learn how to
time-manage," said Kelly. To be certain, we checked with her mom.

"I really believe it's made her a better
young adult," said Maggie Brumagin, adding,
"She's very mature, pretty much a natural leader, very organized."

Then again, her mom had to be organized too --
to see her daughter in "at least 75" cheerleading competitions.