Goffstown Varsity Cheer Faces Challenges
The Goffstown Varsity Cheer team suffered several setbacks this fall season. The team lost 6 talented teammates, and with limited gym time available, there’s only so much the team is able to accomplish. The varsity cheer team practices from 7-9 p.m. Monday through Wednesday every week and attends a tumbling class at Royalty Elite in Bow on Thursdays. As competition season approaches, additional weekend practices bring stress for the team. Competition season means the team has to perfect the routine for the state competition on November 4th.
Alicia Duval, an athlete on the varsity team, explains how, “there’s a lot of conflict this season. We’ve lost a lot of girls in a short amount of time and it’s very stressful.” A lot of the conflict she says comes from practices being so late at night. She explains how some girls don’t get home until 9:30 at night and still have to eat dinner, do homework, and shower, pushing bedtime to 11-11:30 p.m. which is late considering many girls have to get up at 6 a.m.. In addition, many girls miss practice without any notice, so it’s difficult to get things done. Alicia feels as though the team loses a new girl every week, so fixing the routine and learning new parts in such a short amount of time is always hard. Alicia believes she’s in good enough shape to able to complete her part in the routine, but it’s still going to be challenging. She’s always trying her best. Alicia explains that going Division 1 actually makes her have more fun with the season rather than stressing out as much as she would if the team were still in Division 2.
Goffstown Varsity Cheer head coach, Kati Goudouros recognizes the time the team has spent re-working the routine and rebuilding stunt groups. She believes that all the changes have helped to make the team “more motivated” and sees the biggest challenge for the team as training the new flyers due to all the flyers from the previous season graduating. On moving up to Division One, Kati says, “the competition is way more intense and getting our skills to that level means more jump work and tumbling work.” Kati believes that the best aspect of the team is how much the team supports each other especially within last couple of weeks. The team has really brought out their “firecracker” and are able to appreciate each other.
Emily Lydick is 18 years old and is a senior at Goffstown High School. She lives with her parents and her twin brothers along with her pets, a yellow lab...
Dianne stra d • Dec 8, 2018 at 6:43 am
Great article! You really painted the picture of the commitment needed to prepare for a competition and the need to be resilient! Oh, and let’s not forget school! Keep up the good work little cousin!!! Proud of you!
Brian Goss • Dec 7, 2018 at 12:15 pm
A good article, but I think a second girl’s input might have brought more problems the girls face individually and as a team.
Kevin MacDonald • Dec 7, 2018 at 9:18 am
Well written article. Left me fully understanding the emotional & physical challenges the team has and continues to face head on.
Jacqui Phipps • Dec 7, 2018 at 9:11 am
Very good article Emily. So glad to see the talent to write is passing on to the next generation. The team sounds like it is overcoming some setbacks but working hard to accomplish its goals. Good Luck to them all and to you.
Sheila Chapman • Dec 7, 2018 at 8:56 am
Great article Emily!
Karen Phipps • Dec 6, 2018 at 10:06 pm
Great article Emily! We all know how hard you girls work. You all deserve the best.
Jessica • Dec 6, 2018 at 1:36 pm
Good Luck this season!
Olivia Machakos • Dec 6, 2018 at 11:00 am
Awesome article Em! You did a great job of giving an overview of our challenging season!
Andrew duval • Dec 6, 2018 at 10:31 am
Awesome article!