With fall sports coming to a close, the fall cheerleading team looks back on a successful and encouraging season. Led by new head coach Alexa Young, senior captain Jolie Graham, junior captain Ellie Mollica, and junior captain Emerson Noble the team had a successful season.

New head Coach Alexa Young is now the fourth coach in four years for the varsity cheer team. Young was a former cheerleader for Magruder and hopes to bring back consistency to the cheer program. Young incorporated more team bonding to make sure the team can be their best at all times.

The cheer season started all the way back in the middle of July when the team hosted weekly workouts and conditioning opportunities. These opportunities were a chance to stay in shape while also preparing for the season. “Even though the conditioning was hard and exhausting, it brought us together as a team and helped us get farther than we expected,” junior Zainab Deen said.

After the conditioning and workouts took place in July and early August the real season kicked off on Aug. 12 with tryouts. With four judges to help create the team, the tryout process this year was competitive. After tryouts and final cuts the fall varsity cheer team consisted of 16 girls but after two athletes quit, the team was a strong group of 14.

One aspect of the cheer team is performing on the sideline of every football game, home and away. Cheer is a huge part of starting chants for the crowd and getting fans excited for the football games. Winning or losing, the cheer team is always out there supporting the football team with signs and cheers.

Other than performing at football games, the team this year also performed at the sideline of a girls’ varsity field hockey game. Performing for different teams helps school spirit and makes the crowd more engaged and into the games. “I love cheering for other sports because it’s so much fun to watch all the different teams play and support them, along with football,” freshman Jenny Brailovsky said.

Before this season the last competition cheerleading participated in was back during the 2019-2020 season before Covid. This season the team was excited to be back competing in the county championship and the regional championship where they got sixth place.

The team also hosted a fundraiser earlier in the season. Through their instagram account people had the opportunity to donate through a QR code. Profits went toward getting the team new uniforms and will go to getting better equipment for years to come.

Now that the fall season has come to an end, the team is looking forward to the winter season.