Braydin King,  Varsity Cheer Captain for three years , and Lizzie Kozak, cheerleader for 10 years, are two seniors in the Thunderbird cheer team and they were able to give us the full picture of their final year though.

 “I’ve been cheering for the Thunderbird team for four years, I love it , it’s really a lot of fun for me,” said Braydin.

 “I have been cheering for 10 years , three of which have been with Thunderbird,” said Lizzie. Both have ample experience in this sport. I asked Braydin and Lizzie  why they decided to join the Cheer team and this was their answer:

 “I decided to join the cheer team  because it was a necessity in my family to do at least one team sport a year, and football just wasn’t for me so I thought cheer would be a lot more  fun!” Said Braydin.

 “I decided to start cheering when I was in second grade because I thought it started fun. Then I fell in love with it. Growing up, I dreamed of being in the high school cheer team so I joined the Thunderbird Cheer Team” said Lizzie. However, it is interesting to know more about their future plans since they graduate this year.

“I think that I’ll cheer in college if I can get a scholarship to a good college for it and if I get no listing  injuries before then, since college cheer can be extremely rigorous and I wouldn’t to risk anything else if I were to get an injury before it” said Braydin “I’m not going to continue cheering after high school. I am going to be focused on college and hopefully I’ll have a job. I likely won’t have time. Plus, the ASU cheer team is very “dancey”  which I don’t like as much,” said Lizzie . So for Braydin, cheering at college would be a great sporting opportunity, Lizzie will not continue to cheer because she prefers to dedicate herself to her personal cultural education which will occupy a lot of her time. 

“If there was something I could change about cheer it is the stigma surrounding it. Cheer, unless we are performing, tends to be an afterthought for a lot of people and cheerleaders aren’t treated the same as a lot of other athletes who do other sports like baseball or football” said Braydin. 

“I would change the stereotypes. People often think cheerleaders are stuck up and mean and while some are, I don’t want people to automatically think that about me. Also, people think cheerleaders aren’t smart and I hate that. I’m smart and I know I am and I hate when people think I am  dumb because I’m on cheer. Another thing I would change is the fact that so many people don’t think cheer is a sport. It is a sport. It is a hard sport that requires dedication. It is competitive and it is dangerous and I feel like cheerleaders don’t get the credit they deserve for how hard they have to work”. 

The two interviewees were very clear and what their answers have in common is certainly the desire to change prejudices and opinions on this sport. Both also have in common the desire to grow as athletes and face the most difficult challenges.

 “I’m most excited about improving my techniques like tumbling and stunts as people become more experienced in cheer” said Braydin.

 “I’m excited about the competition season. My favorite thing about cheer is competing” I love the rush you get when you are on the mat pushing yourself to do better than you ever have. I love the feeling you get when you know you gave it your performance with 110% of your energy. I love the feeling when you finish your routine and everyone is clapping and cheering. I also enjoy when you do good and perform  a good routine. I love to cheer!” Said Lizzie