Cheer teams preparing for a season of virtual meets, no participation in games

As school districts wrestle with how to best move forward with high school sports in the COVID-19 era, cheerleading is yet another sport that has had everything normal about how it operates thrown overboard.

Coaches and athletes alike are now learning to live within the new, difficult lines of a sport long defined by the ultimate display of teamwork between 20 or more individuals for a three-minute routine. This upcoming competitive season, however, won’t be like any other.

The IHSA released a vast set of guidance earlier this month for how the competitive cheer season will look, whether competition would be a live in-person event or done virtually. Routines will still consist of of the typical three-minute performance time.

Cheerleader-to-cheerleader contact, pyramids/tosses, partner stunts and lifts are all prohibited. Participants are expected to be spaced 6 feet apart and wear masks.

“Obviously, it’s really sad that we’re not able to do our season like normal, but I, personally, totally understand that [the IHSA] is trying to keep everyone safe,” St. Charles North senior Katie Fleck said. “Even though we can’t have a traditional year, I’m so glad that we’re able to have our sport in any way possible.”

For now, cheer competitions may begin as soon as Nov. 30. Sectionals are slated for Jan. 30 and the state finals could be Feb. 5-6.

In-person competition, depending on group gathering mitigations, might be out of the question in the future.

Virtual competitions, however, might provide the best chance for consistent competition for teams. Competitions may be formatted in either what’s coined "synchronous or asynchronous."

Synchronous competition would occur at the same time, similar to a live event where teams would log in to perform via a video streaming platform at a specified time.

Asynchronous competition would consist of prerecorded routines where teams would have a certain timeframe to film a routine. A keyword emailed by the contest holder would be sent to a team and it wold have to flash that at the start of a take when recording before uploading the submission.

Cheer coaches are expecting to have technical support via a hotline from a host school if there are issues on video uploading or submission.

“That has been nice that it’s not so high-stress,” Batavia cheer coach Nikki Behrens said. “Competition days, you get one shot. You’re on a timer from the time you start warming up until the end of your performance. So, that flexibility is new for us. [Cheer] has always been very regimented and strict.”

However, there might be something to be said about the atmosphere of the competition-day experience, given the constraints an asynchronous virtual competition has.

“For our athletes, they thrive off of that pressure of performing in front of other athletes and spectators,” Behrens said. “That is something we are trying to figure out: How to hype the girls up when they’re performing in their own gym, on their own mats with no one there watching.”

“In our sport, it’s really about who is the best that day,” Bolingbrook cheer coach Shannon Price said. “So, that aspect of our sport has essentially been eliminated since now you can record your routine multiple times in that week span and then just pick the best one to submit.”

Price feels the host schools are doing the best they can with the cards they’re being dealt.

“We had accepted this idea of virtual competition. Coaches were on-board for it, ready to go,” Price said.

The official scoring rubric still can be used while omitting pyramids/tosses and partner stunts for a total of 55 possible points. It can then be transferred to 100% raw score. The IHSA also states there “will be no penalties for masks or social distancing.”

“Choreographing a routine without those major components is a huge challenge and still something I’m sure teams are figuring out,” Behrens said. “And, will be figuring out the day before a competition how to make that really work and score the highest on a rubric.”

“They’re keeping our performance the same setup as previous years and just eliminating a part of the judging rubric,” Price said. “It is doable. I just wonder where we’re going to add more. Tumbling is going to be a much more focused part of the routine now, which is going to lend toward teams that have really strong tumbling.”

Price also forecasts teams will be seeing more visuals, levels and transitions.

“I think that’s where some of the kids were struggling with this,” Price said. “[Where some may say,] ‘This sounds an awful lot like a floor gymnastics routine’. And they’re not wrong when we’re taking out the stunting aspect of our routine.”

“It’s not going to look just like a routine with stunts missing,” Price said. “Because you’re going to have to amp up the other aspects of the rubric by a lot.”

Tumbling with a mask on, in particular, can be difficult. Yet Fleck and her St. Charles North teammates are adapting.

“We’ve definitely figured out our ways around [it],” Fleck said. “Making sure we take enough breaths in between so that we can still tumble and do what we can.”

“I think since we are not able to stunt, which is probably one of the biggest parts of our sport, it puts a lot of strain on tumbling,” St. Charles North senior Stephanie Lee said. “...It’s been really hard to keep doing all the tumbling over and over again, and that puts a lot of strain on the people who [tumble] because that takes a lot out of you.”

Despite the uncertainty and anxiety over the past several months pertaining to guidelines, the cheerleaders themselves are making the best of their situations.

“It’s really helpful our team is so close and we’re literally all a family,” Lee said. “We have such a supportive coach that’s making it a positive experience for us. Which, honestly, is helping me through this entire thing. It’s been tough not being able to do our sport to the full-extent.”

Cheerleading is also one of many staples of the gameday experience during basketball, volleyball and football games. Like its counterparts in the pep band, dance teams and more, cheer possibly won’t be in their customary spots only feet away on the sidelines when game action returns.

St. Charles North cheer coach Adrianne Noworul was new to the program last season. She brought her team to wrestling meets, volleyball matches and more. Their intention this year was to support every athletics team’s senior night.

“I think it’s hard for all of us to kind of realize: if there’s a basketball season, we’re not [likely] a part of it. If there’s a football season, we might not be part of it,” Noworul said. “We’re not just on the sidelines. We’ve become part [of the experience]. That’s part of what we do.”

“We’re not just there to cheer for them. We truly want them to succeed,” Noworul continued. “We love being there and performing for their parents and a whole different crowd that doesn’t see us.”

High school cheer teams around the state are also feeling that sting.

“I think the hardest part has been watching the effect it’s had on my athletes ... cheer is not one of the sports that’s really being talked about. And, we’ve kind of accepted that about cheer for years,” Price said. “The only people who truly understand, love the sport and understand how hard it is are other people involved in it.”