The Sweet Home High School cheer team hosted its first ever cheer competition Saturday, filling the main gym.
A total of 25 teams, including three from Sweet Home, attended the competition.
“I thought it went really well,” said Coach Amber Rosa. “The judges told us it was one of the best they’ve been to,” and it was hard to tell it was the first time.
As it turned out, she said, she only faced a couple of tiny things.
The Sweet Home minis team placed second in its category. The youth squad finished first. The junior high team did not perform a full routine so did not place.
The high school varsity team performed an exhibition, which will count toward requirements to compete at state.
The team filmed that performance as an audition for a national event in Anaheim, Rosa said. “It was perfect, fantastic. They didn’t miss anything. They were super motivated to make it happen.”
The judges evaluated the performance for feedback purposes, Rosa said. The team scored 9s and 10s.
The routine isn’t the one the Huskies will use at state, she said. “It will be a much more difficult routine.”
For nationals, the routine needs to be even in terms of difficulty among stunting, tumbling and the dance, she said. The team can and will increase its stunt difficult for state, but it has to hold back for the nationals routine – “not that they’re that easy by any means.”
The team’s goal is to win state this year, Rosa said, but the 4A has gotten much more difficult. She plans to boost the stunting difficulties into the 8 to 10 range, which is what the 6A teams target, to grab the state championship trophy.
The competition is a fund-raising tool for the program, Rosa said, and a portion of the proceeds will go toward the nationals trip. Total, the competition raised in the ballpark of $5,000.