As the cheer and dance fall season comes to an end, we wanted to highlight the athletes that go above and beyond to make their teams stronger. Often, cheer and dance unfortunately get grouped under the title, spirit teams. However, that does not make them any less deserving of recognition due to the taxing practices and the rigorous hard work they display through halftime routines. This week senior captains, Bella Hammond and Ava Bischof, are in the spotlights.
Bella is a senior and one half of the captains on the Varsity cheer team. She has been doing cheer for five years now.
“I have been doing cheer ever since my eighth grade year at assumption, and that’s where I learned to love cheer,” Hammond said.
Bella is never seen without a smile on her face and that’s what makes her such a great cheerleader. She loves what cheer represents. Spreading joy and cheerfulness to the fans is a passion of Bella’s.
“Our job, as cheerleaders, is to make people happy, and I think that’s beautiful. I love spreading happiness,” Hammond said.
Being a leader on the cheer team is something that comes naturally to Bella. She’s been taking on that responsibility since her freshman year. She took the initiative early on in the Crusader Sparkle program. As a freshman on the JV team, she wasn’t technically allowed to participate, however, Bella was so passionate about the program that an exception was made. Then, her sophomore year, the program was handed over to her and she has shaped it into what it is today.
“I find it very rewarding to my heart for sure,” Hammond said.
As a captain and the lone organizer of Crusader Sparkle, Bella’s responsibilities include choreographing, managing budgets, raising funds, making t- shirts, contacting parents, finding areas to practice, and creating full cheer routines. When it comes to her captaincy the main focus is to be a buffer between the coaches and players.
“I’m pretty much just helping out the team by being a leader they can communicate with and just trying to be their voice and someone they can look up to,” Hammond said.
Though cheer comes with a lot of responsibilities it’s not without its rewards. Cheering is a great way to make friends that uplift you. That has definitely been Bella’s experience, having cheered all four years, she has made lifelong friendships that help her be the best version of herself.
The same can be said for the dance team. Senior and Captain, Ava Bischof, can attest to that. Having friends who share her same love of dance has made it so easy to form strong bonds. Ava has been dancing since she was three years old and has been competing since she was five so it’s safe to say that dance has been a huge part of her life and no one understands that better than her teammates. As a freshman Ava was immediately put on to Varsity and the friends she made at that time have grown with her to become the dancers they are today.
“I’ve gotten really close to them over the years and it’s just so helpful because I can relate to them so much in dance but also outside of dance. So, yeah I really cherish those friendships because of how much we have in common,” Bischof said.
Ava shares her captaincy with Sienna Jackman but both of them share the responsibilities of leading practice and performance. These responsibilities include planning out hair and makeup, leading warm ups, being the voice of her teammates in communication with the coaches and overall being an inspiration to her teammates.
“I just want to help my team realize the hard work that we put in never goes unnoticed,” Bischof said.
As we are over halfway through football season the dance team’s practices have begun to focus more on the competitions coming up. The dance team is known for always being on top of their choreography and planning way in advance.
“We’re never really nervous for game days since we’re always so prepared,” Bischof said.
When it comes to competition the team is the same way. Learn the dance, clean it up, and run it as many times as needed until it is perfect. Last year, the team took first place in jazz at their competition and they have every intention of winning again this year. Ava is not worried about it as the competition is in January and they have already begun learning their dances. She has full faith in her teammates ability and talent.
“I know we’ll be ready,” Bischof said.
Ava loves to dance but the best thing dance has brought her is community. The community that she has built is the reason she’s still dancing today.
When it comes to forming bonds, hard work and shared passions are staples at St. Dominic. Ava Bischof and Bella Hammond are two amazing examples of athletes at St. Dominic that help their teams grow through hard work and passion.
