Pep Squad – Cheer Up Rams!

Cheerleaders. When we hear that word, most of us think about the movies. The cheerleaders who are bullies and maybe not the brightest. However, at AISG, our pep squad proves to be different.

I interviewed Belle Feldmayer, the leader of the Pep Squad. She used to live in Virginia, where cheerleading was a big sport. In her freshman year, she joined the cheer team and said, “it was one of the most fun things I had done in my life. Before that, I was never really a sports person or passionate about sports.” However, when she moved to Guangzhou in 10th grade, AISG did not have a Pep Squad until last year, so Belle decided to start one. She had tried out for the dance team, but dance and cheer were different. “I began to work hard to get the Pep Squad going. It took a lot of work and meetings with teachers and other important people at the school,” said Belle. “When I brought the idea to them, they were all very supportive and thought it was a great idea for our school because we often lack school spirit. While the teachers supported it, many people told me not to do it because no one would join,” she added. She noted that although this did discourage her quite a bit, she decided to go ahead with it anyway.

When I asked her opinion on the negative stereotypes that cheerleaders are given, she listed a few. “Cheerleaders are often labeled as dumb, mean and all around annoying. Another stereotype is that any guy that does cheer has to be gay.” She also said, “I think that that is part of the reason people were hesitant to join at first because they did not want to be judged. Even though the students have become more understanding to what cheerleaders really do, there is still some judging that stops other students from joining.” She added, “This stereotype might be one of the worst because guys are needed to do a lot of the lifting and stunts that we do, and we’ve only had one guy per season.”

Currently, the Pep Squad has seven people: 6 girls and 1 boy. They include Belle F., Lillian L., Vicky K., Lina O., Louie A., Raina P. and Leah H. They have demonstrated their cheer skills at the Pep Rally held last week, but have yet to cheer at any home-event this year. Most of the participants are new and are still learning the basic moves and techniques. However, they attended many soccer games last year.

Practice is held twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Tryouts were held on October 26 in Room 327-328. For more information, contact Belle Feldmayer (06feldmayeri@aisgz.0rg). Go Rams!