Not Your Grandma's Cheer Squad

This is not your grandmother's cheerleading squad—no doubt about that.

These girls are more than smiling faces and school spirit.

Today's competitive cheerleaders are highly skilled athletes, capable of flipping, twisting and leaping like a top-notch gymnast.

That, and they also have to be strong enough to perform lifts—and have the endurance to do this for several minutes at a time.

Definitely not your grandmother's cheer squad.

"It's really hard," senior Christina Matthews said. "I don't think people really think it is. I think they just picture a cheerleader as someone who jumps around and tosses a 90-pound girl in the air once in a while. It's a lot more than that. It is."

Evidence of this can be found at any competitive cheer event—such as the one held Tuesday night at East Detroit High.

There, Matthews and her teammates competed against the rest of the Macomb Area Conference Gold Division with the hopes of earning as many points as possible—points that can earn the team a trip to the state finals.

Through three challenging rounds of competition the Huskies battled the rest of their division.

After all was said and done, Lakeview finished a strong second behind division rival L'Anse Creuse.

A competitive cheering competition is divided into three rounds. In a nutshell, the first round is basic motions. The second round is tumbling, and the third round is a combination of the first two rounds. Teams are scored on how well they perform in each round.

"A lot of work goes into this—a lot of hard work," Lakeview coach Stephanie Charlie said. "We start this way back in November, and practice three hours a day, three to four days a week."

Generally, squads compete twice a week during the season. However, MAC meets, such as the one Tuesday evening, are particularly important.

"These MAC meets are important to every squad here," Charlie said. "That's where you get the points to qualify for states."

Lakeview, among the better squads in the MAC Gold, should qualify for the state tourney at the end of the season, according to Charlie.

That said, the team's overall success thus far is not by accident.

"You have to be able to do so many different things," Matthews said. "You have to be able to tumble, first of all. And that's probably the toughest thing to get, especially if you aren't starting until high school. But you really have to be a good athlete too. It's a lot different than people think."

Cheerleading has become an athletic event—few who have ever seen a cheer competition would disagree.

"A lot of people have never seen a cheer competition in their life," Matthews said. "It's totally different than what most people think. In a way, I don't think we get enough credit for what we do because so few people have seen a competition."

The next chance to catch the Huskies is at 9 a.m Feb. 5 at L'Anse Creuse.