Marissa Zaye
Student SID

Arizona Lutheran Academy Cheer debuts eight new cheerleaders

October 7, 2020 by Marissa Zaye, Arizona Lutheran Academy


Photos by SID, Hannah Brown

Marissa Zaye attends Arizona Lutheran Academy (ALA) and is a member of the AIA's Student SID program. 

This year’s fall season cheer team consists of a new coach and eight rookie cheerleaders. The team has one senior, two juniors, three sophomores, and two freshmen. 

What is cheer? Well the name pretty much says it all. Cheer can be used for many sports, but at ALA the sport that cheerleaders focus on is football. The team made their debut as ALA cheerleaders at the football season opener this past Friday against Camp Verde. The football team kicked off their season with a win, and the first game went great for the cheerleaders too. 

Mrs. List is the new ALA head coach this year, and it is also her first year at ALA. Mrs. List has coached cheer before, but not since 1999. Behind the scenes, Elle Schaumburg (ALA 2017) is also coaching and teaching the team with recorded videos. When asked about how the first practice went, Mrs. List had this to say, “I was really happy with the group of girls that came out for cheer. I think everyone comes from different backgrounds and different experience levels, but everyone was kind, friendly, and accepting of each other.” A completely new cheer team is something we’ve never seen before. Some of the girls were cheerleaders in elementary school, but high school cheer is a whole new level. 

 

 

 

Photo courtesy of Anna Bebee

The two new co-captains are Grace Gray, a junior, and Marissa Zaye, a senior, and they both come from amazing backgrounds! They are ready to work as hard as they can so that the team can work together and strive together as one. Everyone on the team respects each other, and they are forming great friendships. They are also very accepting of the fact that they’re not going to all look the same, and that’s the best part. They encourage one another to have the best time and to be confident in themselves. 

The school year started off with no returning cheer members, but in September, Grace, one of the co-captains “assembled” a team of eight. If not for her, there would be no cheer team at ALA football in 2020. Just like Nick Fury from Avengers, she brought this team together—from different backgrounds, strong and confident in different ways. When you put this team together, they are unstoppable in whatever they do.

With only three weeks as a team, they've already learned ten cheers and dances. They still have a few things to work on: adding to their repertoire, working on precision, and growing as a team. The Coyote nation is excited to see the new cheerleaders back in action at the next football game on October 16, our ALA Homecoming game. Hope to see you there!!