Sports are a big part of any high school program, and athletes are easily one of the most recognizable groups of any high school community. But just as important as the athletes are the support systems behind them, and the people that come together to celebrate their successes.

 

Eastwood Collegiate Institute in Kitchener is the only school in the WRDSB that still has a cheerleading squad, and they have been led fearlessly for years by teacher Amanda Bauz. Bauz is a French teacher at Eastwood who dedicates most of her afternoons after class to coaching, and still managed to find time to sit down with me for an interview. As we sit down to begin, the cheerleaders are practicing in the background. In the distance, I can hear the team captains teaching the newest members everything they will need to know in order to be a part of this team.

 

Bauz has become a trailblazer within the local high school spirit community; she was understandably proud to tell me: “I’ve been approached by schools over the last 5 years and they’ve asked me to come start a cheerleading team for them but I just don’t have time so this year I have communicated with one school in detail on how to get started and they do have a gymnastics coach there who is qualified to coach most of it so they might be starting one!” She adds with a laugh: “We would love some friendly competition!”

 

Bauz knows that her squad is unique, and what they do for their school is unique. She notes that: “ The players really do enjoy the support… The fans enjoy it too, it gives them something else to do or look at, and I hear them now catching onto the cheers so you’ll hear them chanting in the stands... having the cheerleader’s support and having the fans jump on board, the boys hear everyone cheering for them... they’ve got real cheers going and it really pumps them up. It really adds to the whole atmosphere of the games.”

 

Along with their presence at games, Eastwood’s cheerleaders help to boost school spirit in the halls and the classrooms. They participate in assemblies, pep rallies and extra curricular activities, demonstrating school spirit wherever they go. According to Bauz, “They wear their [school] jackets quite often so I think they’re supporting Eastwood quite often by wearing that jacket like any team would, but they’re very proud of their school.”

 

Bauz made sure to emphasize the importance of both school spirit and academic conduct. All cheerleaders are required to attend class regularly, be passing their courses and overall be a good school citizen. She has taken steps to ensure her squad is accountable for their behaviour: “They have to sign a document; I’ve altered the athlete’s code of conduct to make it fitting for us...It’s important that they sign it and actually that their parents sign it so I can make sure I have that parental support. They know what’s required of them, it’s very important.”

 

In our interview we made sure to discuss the stereotypes surrounding cheerleading as a sport, because there is a common misconception that all cheerleaders are petty, shallow airheads. According to Bauz, the main difference is the level of cheering:

 

“This is high school cheerleading; in university you get what’s called cheer sport which is more about the choreography and the stunts that you associate with cheerleading and they compete in national competitions all over the place, ...What we do is straight cheerleading but once you get into real cheer sport...there’s a huge difference, high school cheer is all about the teams you cheer for and creating that school spirit, where as cheer sport is a sport all its own…”

 

An admirable part of Bauz’ coaching is how much she is aware of this cliche and how she strives to debunk it. She assures me that “we try and move away from that image of girls in skirts and…” and though she trails off, the implication is perfectly clear. Rather, her team is close on and off the field: “Really, it’s a sisterhood; these girls laugh together, they have fun together, they go out together.”

 

Bauz’ work to create a safe and positive environment for her squad is refreshing, and she herself takes pride in the example she sets both in the classroom and on the field. When asked how she makes herself a role model for the girls she coaches, the response came immediately “By being responsible, coming to class regularly, being prepared, doing my homework, executing things as promised and coming to practice, showing them that I do what I expect from them when it comes to accountability and responsibility and communication. There’s lots that goes into being a part of a team, so just being a positive person and focusing on the task at hand, I do that for them so that they see how to separate the two…”

 

It is very clear that Bauz loves the work she does with her cheerleaders, and had an answer ready when asked about the most rewarding aspect of being a coach: “Getting to know kids outside of the classroom, because it can be hard to stray from subject matter and get to know your students as people rather than pupils...I get to see their personalities come out, because it’s more fun and informal, so my favourite part is getting to see their characters and personalities... and they get to see mine as well, it kind of works both ways...”

 

As the cheerleader’s practice ended, so did our interview. I managed to squeeze in one last question, asking for Bauz’ favourite memory of her nearly eleven years coaching cheerleading. With a distant smile and a laugh, she admitted that she couldn’t possibly choose just one, but there were two that stood out for her.  “We were invited to cheer with Laurier’s team during their football games, in front of an actual stadium and got training with the Laurier girls beforehand. That was fun for the girls because it was an experience of the next level, and they’d never seen so many people before, so getting to see them be invited to something so great was something special.”

 

More recently, she said, would be “When our boys won the basketball championship last year, for the first time in 30 years and we got to be there, that was an awesome moment for the school in general but definitely for the cheerleaders… it really was a perfect culmination of everything the boys had worked for and everything we had done to support them… Everything kind of came together at that moment, it was incredible.”