“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” – Helen Keller

This year, Elkhart High School obviously combined its sports and activities into one. Combining two teams can be a hassle whether it’s trying to get a team to act as one or even knowing how many are going to be on the squad. Cheer isn’t the easiest sport in the world–and teamwork is, no doubt, a imperative part of it. Simply put, teamwork works. This is specially true with stunts, where if teammates don’t click, it can all come tumbling down.

So, how has it been with two different schools and different coaches coming together as one?

Aliyana Hurt,  a sophomore at Elkhart-East, has been in cheer since last year–both seasons–and is now in her second year with the combined squad. She shares her thoughts: “With combining [East campus] with the West [campus], it has been different. It’s exciting to meet all these new people.”But,” Hurt adds, “my favorite thing about it is having more people on the team and trying different things, because the West does things differently, and we adjusted.  Basically,” she concludes, “it’s been a little rocky–but on the plus-side, it’s been pretty fun!”

Hailey Williams,  a sophomore at Elkhart-West, has also been a cheerleader for two years. She, too, has  her opinion on how the transition into one unified team has been going. “Combining the two schools together has definitely been a big change,” Williams begins. “At first, I wasn’t sure how it would be. But–now that we are into the second season of cheer–overall, it’s been fantastic!” She continues on, saying, “I really love that we were able to join as one team and not have any issues. We all kind of just clicked together and all came out together as a great team.”

Williams agrees with Hurt that the merger has been beneficial. “My favorite thing about us combining is we all got to meet new people, share existing skills, and also learn new skills.” Reiterating that, she adds, “We were all able to learn and try new things that the other team has done that we never have and got to learn the new skills.” Reflecting for a moment, she concludes. “I really enjoy working hard with everyone and just can’t wait to see how much we all grow and become better at the sport we all love.”

So, start raising spirits and throwing the pom poms up in the air! Elkhart Cheerleading is getting better and more skilled. Despite their differences, these two squads came as one team.

Now that’s something worth cheering over!