Throwing Moves & Shedding Stereotypes: Varsity Competitive Cheer with Ashlyn Stonick, Kirstyn Wilson & Mindy Vork

Prepare to be inspired by the world of Competitive Cheer at West Ottawa High School as coach Mindy Vork, and seniors Kirstyn Wilson and Ashlyn Stonick reveal the intense dedication and resilience behind their sport.

Discover how synchronized movements and high-stakes stunts demand not only physical prowess but also mental toughness. Coach Vork provides a compelling perspective on what it takes to lead a team in this demanding sport, while Ashlyn shares her experience of navigating sudden changes and maintaining performance. We also examine the empowering evolution of competitive cheer as a varsity sport in Michigan, celebrating its role in elevating female athletes.

Journey alongside senior cheerleaders Ashlyn and Kirstyn as they recount their early days in ballet and competitive dance, which set the stage for their cheerleading careers. Coach Mindy offers a behind-the-scenes look at her transition from JV to varsity head coach, detailing the increased challenges and high expectations faced when competing against top teams like Jenison, Rockford and East Kentwood. This episode also sheds light on the strategic goals set by the team, emphasizing the necessity of focusing on accomplishments rather than missteps. 

Explore the distinction between sideline and competitive cheer and how each aspect prepares athletes for the heightened rigor of competitive events. Uncover the creativity and teamwork that bring Competitive Cheer Routines to life. From crafting innovative cheers to the crucial role of vocal strength in competitions, this episode celebrates the collaborative effort and community support that drive success. 

Learn about the Three Rounds of Competitive Cheer Competition, where the action is energized, detailed and performed at incredibly high levels.

Ashlyn and Kirstyn illustrate the whirlwind of quick changes and precision required between rounds, underscoring the trust essential for executing complex routines. As we discuss setting performance goals and the importance of community support, you'll gain insight into the passion, resilience, and unity that define West Ottawa High School's competitive cheer team.

This episode was recorded on February 10, 2025.

Transcript

Intro & Welcome to Ashlyn Stonick, Kirstyn Wilson & Mindy Vork

Speaker 1 0:00

I think, because so many of these girls have done it for so long, it's become more of second nature. And then when we get a new athlete in who might have done another sport and not understand all the components to it, that's when you realize oh yeah, this is really hard.

Speaker 2 0:22

Hey everybody, this is Rodney Valinga with the West Ottawa High School Athletic Program and you're listening to the 29.1 Podcast 29 sports, one team, the show that brings you into the lives of student-athletes, coaches and other faces in the Panther sports community, Bringing you the stories you might otherwise never hear. Join myself and Athletic Director Bill Kennedy as we dive in with you to get to know each other a little bit better. Ever have it where you and somebody beside you did the same thing at the same time? Ever tried doing it on purpose, with 15 other people matching up athletic movements, vocals and high-end tumbling and stunting all at once?

Speaker 3 1:08

Today we're joined by Panthers competitive cheer coach, mindy Vork, and seniors Kirsten Wilson and Ashlyn Stonic. The ladies join the pod to talk about their season and lay out the goals they have as they move towards the postseason, while also introducing us to some aspects that make their sport so challenging while also introducing us to some aspects that make their sport so challenging.

Speaker 2 1:29

It takes hours upon hours of practice and, at times, a lot of guts, to learn to throw a move that could cause injury and maybe take out a row of teeth, Coach Mindy Vork, seniors Kirsten Wilson and Ashlyn Stonic coming up next on the 29.1 Podcast.

Speaker 3 1:40

Let's get it.

Speaker 2 2:12

That is the sound of competitive cheer, one of the most highly energized, physically demanding and challenging sports here at West Ottawa High School. Teamwork isn't just a part of the sport, it's everything. Syncing up movements, performing stunts in unison, pulling off high-level tumbling and being able to transition from one thing to the next in short order are just some of the challenges faced in the world of competitive cheer. So, hey, everybody, welcome back to another edition of the 29.1 podcast. I'm your host, rodney Valinga, and I'm here with Panthers athletic director, bill Kennedy, and we are super excited to dive into the details, the team and get to know and share the stories of our three guests that are with us today. We are so excited that Bill Kennedy would do a backflip if he could. I can't, but that would destroy everything in front of us and that would not be a good move. So it's our pleasure to ask who is it?

Speaker 4 3:06

Kirsten Wilson Ashlyn.

Speaker 1 3:08

Stonic Mindy Vork.

Speaker 3 3:10

Awesome. We thank you, ladies, so much for coming in. We know you're kind of fitting this in before coming out of this midwinter break. You're getting ready for a practice later today. You've got the biggest competition of the season upon us this upcoming weekend with districts over at Hudsonville. So thanks so much for carving out some time to sit down with us.

Speaker 2 3:30

You all just took the mat last Wednesday night in Jenison, Ashlyn. Are you totally exhausted after a night like that? What's that like for you?

Speaker 5 3:37

It's really exhausting and after three rounds it really takes you out and you have to do a lot to recover with short amounts of time in between rounds too, it's not a lot yeah for me, it was my first time ever watching, so you know when you do a podcast like this, there's some sports I have not been exposed to.

Speaker 2 3:56

I was really amazed at the, the energy levels, the precision, the quick pace. It's quite an event to be at and watch yeah.

Speaker 3 4:05

So before coming to west ottawa, all my experience was in forest hills and for a period of time we didn't even have sideline cheerleaders at forest hill central when I first started coaching there. It's kind of crazy. The competitive cheer program really was kind of non-existent. And then coming here and we host events, we've got our big invite, we get some okay red competitions. We've hosted a district here before. The one thing I will say about competitive cheer is I like hosting it because the girls are so helpful in getting things set up. It's uh. I don't feel like I have to shoulder all of the burden you guys don't have to be quiet how do you girls feel about all that it takes to kind of when we host events here?

Speaker 4 4:44

um, it is a great experience. I love setting it up, having it be how we want it and knowing how to run. Also being excited to see the other teams come and see our school.

Speaker 2 4:57

Coach, what was it like for you last Wednesday night? What went well, what didn't go your way?

Speaker 1 5:02

Last week, wednesday, was a little rough. We were missing some key people, and so we had to fill in some holes last minute. People were sick and it's always tricky making sure that people that are not in the round are ready to be able to pop in at a moment's notice, because there's so many elements that come to play. I really do think that our team did the best they could with the time that we were given to fill those holes.

Speaker 3 5:29

Absolutely. What is that like as a student athlete, ashlyn, as you're getting prepared for an event and then, all of a sudden, someone maybe within your group that you're working with every day is out.

Speaker 5 5:42

Yeah, so I've actually had that happen to me and you just have to. You can't freak out, you have to go with it and that's something you have to learn very quickly on a team like this and like you watch the videos at home and you practice as well as you can with the people missing that's hard to do.

Speaker 2 6:03

Let me speak to the details of competitive cheer.

Speaker 3 6:06

Yeah. So competitive cheer really I'll go kind of back to when it became a varsity sport in the state of Michigan it was the early 90s, for Title IX reasons ultimately is where the sport really gets born out of in the state, because if you look around, what offerings are there for female student athletes in the winter? Back then there was one. In fact it was volleyball back then because basketball was in the fall season, it was before the season shift. So that's really where competitive cheer has come from. Now there's been some other things that have been added over the years. We've added girls wrestling and that sort of thing. But that's really where it came from, and West Ottawa was one of those schools that got started I want to say around 96, 95, 96, and has had some success. We have two state runner-up banners hanging in the gym from the early 2000s, so it's definitely something that has been here for a long period of time.

Speaker 2 6:57

Let's get to know you guys a little bit. Mindy, you're a first-grade teacher at North Holland.

Speaker 1 7:00

Yes, I am.

Speaker 2 7:01

Yep, this is your second year coaching varsity, but you've been coaching in this sport for quite some time.

Speaker 1 7:07

Yeah, I started coaching when I was a sophomore in college. I took some time off to have some kids in there, but overall I've been coaching.

Speaker 2 7:15

This will be my 18th year coaching 18th year coaching and you also did this. You did competitive cheer at Hope back in the day as well, right, At the collegiate level, it's sideline.

Speaker 1 7:24

Competitive cheer at Hope back in the day as well, right At the collegiate level. It's sideline. And then you go to a camp over the summer. You get a bid for nationals and that's how you compete at the national level. Hope was growing their program while I was there and we did get a bid to nationals my sophomore year. I was studying abroad, however, that year, so I didn't get to travel with them, but they took home a third place at their first time at nationals.

Speaker 2 7:47

And you had to leave the sport because of concussions right.

Speaker 1 7:50

I did. Yes, my third concussion was also that same year. So we didn't know a whole lot about concussions back then and my doctor had told my parents, just to be safe, she shouldn't be doing this sport anymore. But I loved it, so I wasn't ready to give it up completely. And then I connected with a coach from high school and I went and coached over at Zealand.

Speaker 2 8:15

Nice. Any big injuries for you guys Concussions sort of stuff. You probably had them. Go ahead, Ashlyn.

Speaker 5 8:20

I had two concussions on JV. I believe they were both my freshman year, do you?

Speaker 2 8:27

remember them.

Speaker 4 8:28

Kind of.

Speaker 5 8:30

But I haven't had any concussions since, thankfully.

Speaker 2 8:34

And that's as a flyer. Would that be as a?

Speaker 5 8:35

flyer. Yeah, they were really scary. Other than that, just like smaller injuries, like I sprained my ankle.

Speaker 2 8:44

Right, and that's part of it. How about yourself, Kirsten?

Speaker 4 8:47

I broke my hand during sidelines while tumbling.

Speaker 2 8:53

Did you really you broke your hand during sideline? Yes, which you would not expect. It there probably right.

Speaker 4 8:58

Yeah, I was at a different gym practicing like my tumbling and like advance it, but I broke my handumbling and advance it, but I broke my hand by twisting it.

Speaker 2 9:09

That's going to be a tough injury in cheer. We're sitting in here and you did the physical movement of your hand for the break and I could feel it.

Speaker 4 9:19

She also got her front teeth knocked out at camp summers ago An elbow to the mouth, and we had to go to an emergency dentist get them fixed well, tell us about that we were at elma, which is a cheer camp, and we were practicing new stunts that the coaches had shown us, and she, my flyer had their her elbows on our bases knees and then we flipped her up kind of from like a handstand position and she came back with her elbow to my mouth.

Speaker 2 9:52

So you don't look like you've lost your teeth.

Speaker 4 9:55

They saved them.

Speaker 2 9:56

They saved them yes they did. Nice job dentist.

Speaker 4 10:00

We went to an emergency dentist and they numbed me all up and pushed my teeth back forward and then I wore kind of like braces in my front teeth for a couple of weeks.

Speaker 1 10:11

And then she came back for our final day performance.

Team Captains, Building A Team, Changing Positions, Kirstyn's Gymnastics & Ashlyn's Competitive Dance In Their Youth

Speaker 4 10:14

I didn't want to miss it At camp.

Speaker 2 10:17

You came back for it.

Speaker 4 10:18

Yeah.

Speaker 2 10:19

Heart and grit, baby. Nothing better than that. Ashlyn, you're a senior. Yes, you guys are both captains, right?

Speaker 5 10:25

Yeah, we are.

Speaker 2 10:26

How many captains do you have on the team?

Speaker 5 10:28

Four.

Speaker 2 10:29

And who are they?

Speaker 5 10:30

We have Kayla Vork and Adley Field.

Speaker 2 10:33

And the two of you. So that's a pretty big role to fill. Huh, coach. What are the responsibilities as captains?

Speaker 1 10:39

They lead warm up for the team. They also are in charge of planning team bonding activities and coming up with our connection circle prompts. That we do every day.

Speaker 2 10:50

What's some of your team activities you guys like to do? Ashlyn?

Speaker 5 10:55

We've done a lot of different things. I remember last year we did a pool party, and then we also have done we painted pumpkins. Oh, pumpkins, oh nice and we've like gone downtown too before and then we just do like fun, like games, like bonding games how important is that?

Speaker 2 11:16

that team chemistry, kirsten, when you're trying to to build a, build a team when we're building a team, we can't do anything about our team.

Speaker 4 11:23

we we always have to be together, and so we might as well. All like each other, and through team bonding we're able to see other people on different levels, and see them in school, out of school and just like themselves.

Speaker 2 11:38

Yeah, seeing somebody as a human being, other than the sport that you're in, really makes a big difference.

Speaker 3 11:43

Do you have to when you have your groups coach? Help me out with terminology here. If I'm working in a group and I'm the base in the group, what am I calling my group? Do I call? Them, my group, your stunt group, my stunt group, okay, so I'm not too far off. Is it even more important for you, as you're kind of going through and you're building these relationships, to build them within that stunt group?

Speaker 2 12:06

yes, 100, yeah yeah, what kind of? Um, sorry, and there's mostly four stunt groups really interesting.

Speaker 2 12:14

Uh, for you, ashlyn, you moved from a flyer to a base this year yes, I did and one of the really interesting things about that is when you're identifying groups you identify the group by the flyer, kirsten. She made the move this year. But that's a little bit of a hit right Kind of on that athletic ego to kind of move from flyer to a different spot. What's it like for you as a teammate for her to make a move like that?

Speaker 4 12:39

It's exciting being in all different types of positions. Not one is greater than the other. It's you as a group who's working together and it's exciting to see her grow, and all the people that are able to grow with switching spots.

Speaker 1 12:57

I do think it's really important for girls to learn more than one position because, especially in high school, school bodies grow and change like crazy and if you've only done one position then it kind of takes you out of stunting If you can't adapt and learn another position if one isn't working for you. So I was very happy that Ashlyn was willing to take on the role, learning how to base, and she did it with grace and determination to get into the rounds.

Speaker 3 13:29

And then you have to also. I mean, you've got a group of girls who may not be assigned to a particular stunt group. Are they working on multiple positions to be ready to go when you have somebody sick or an injury happens? They have to be kind of well-rounded, they do yes, somebody sick or an injury happens.

Speaker 1 13:47

they have to be kind of well-rounded they do. Yes, it's easier to have the girls on the bottom learn the different roles main base versus side base versus back spot. It's a little bit trickier for that flyer role because it's different in the technique they have to use to control their body in the air.

Speaker 2 14:02

Kirsten, for yourself, you have a bit of a background in gymnastics as a young person, right? Can you share with us what you did when you were younger? Because you even as a freshman here you were not in competitive cheer yet but tell us a little bit about your gymnastics background.

Speaker 4 14:15

I went to Flipside Gymnastics and was there for about six years. I was on their team, which is who competes, so that was exciting. I was on XL Gold. I performed floor which is tumbling and jumping beam and then bars and vaults and it was very different coming to cheer, but I really enjoyed the tumbling of gymnastics and how strong you had to be.

Speaker 2 14:45

Yeah, and it's something that you can really bring into the team. That is a huge asset, whereas Ashlyn brought in some dance performance as a youngster. Right, ashlyn, tell us about your early life.

Senior Class Shout Out, The Demands Of Varsity, Round 2 Goal of 200, 700 Competition Score

Speaker 5 14:55

Yeah, so I did ballet for a long time when I was little and then I decided to try something new and do competitive dance and I actually met some of the girls on our cheer team now way back then. But yeah, it definitely helped prepare me for like, doing the face and performing and all the like precise movements and stuff. And yeah, then I decided to try cheer in sixth grade and I've stuck with it ever since.

Speaker 2 15:25

You two are almost a perfect combination of what's required, right? Coach?

Speaker 1 15:29

They are.

Speaker 3 15:30

So, coach, we've got a really big senior class this year.

Speaker 1 15:33

We do. There are 12 seniors on our team this year. All right, so the seniors on our team this year, we have Abriel Vanderswag, alina Romero-Ortiz, ashlyn Stonic, who's with us, brie Evans, ayanna Malgoza, kayla Fredrickson, juliana Zivel, kiana Winfrey, kirsten Wilson, who's also with us, maya Loveless and Stephanie Garcia and Tiaja Shakir that is a heck of a senior night right there it is.

Speaker 1 16:10

And it's been so fun because a lot of these girls I've coached for four years. I coached them two years on JV and two years on varsity, so they've been kind of right alongside of me through this journey yeah, you get to know each other really well.

Speaker 2 16:22

Lots of time spent together, of course, with practice and all. So they've been kind of right alongside of me through this journey. Yeah, you get to know each other really well. Lots of time spent together, of course, with practice and all that. You really get to know people as you do these things.

Speaker 3 16:29

Obviously, Mindy, I've known you since I've been here at West Ottawa. You've been a coach on our staff, but you made the transition from JV to varsity head coach a couple of years ago. What was?

Speaker 1 16:42

that transition like and how's that experience been go? What was that transition like and how's that experience been? So varsity is something that I've been working towards and have wanted, but it has been a challenge. The ability difference, the expectations between JV and D1 varsity are huge and I have had conversations with past varsity coaches and it's the same struggle that they've all faced. And I have had conversations with past varsity coaches and it's the same struggle that they've all faced. And I think like the hardest thing for me was I had a very successful JV team. We won a lot or placed in the top two and then moving up to varsity, where we have some of the top teams in the state in our conference, has been really challenging to figure out how to go to compete with them.

Speaker 2 17:28

Yeah, the pressure must be really really high, right? Because if you're at that meet at Jenison and I don't know teams very well, but you have Jenison, you have Rockford, you have EK First round, you guys are pretty much right there with them for the most part, right, maybe 10, 12 point difference. But then you get these next levels and it's like I don't even know what to say, like it's just robotic. Everyone's in sync, every you know. Arm angles are all super tight. Do you feel like the pressure to compete at that level?

Speaker 5 17:56

Ashlyn, what's it like for you guys? Yeah, we definitely watch the other teams a lot and we strive to be like them, but we work towards it and practice every day and, yeah, we've broken some of our goals.

Speaker 2 18:11

Exactly. You have to set many goals for yourself. What are some you might have put out there as a team, Kirsten?

Speaker 4 18:16

One of our goals was to break 700, which we recently did as our final score, and then another goal that we are very close to is breaking 200 in our round two.

Speaker 1 18:29

I think we got 299. 299.76.

Speaker 4 18:34

So we definitely strive to pass that goal.

Speaker 2 18:37

Was that a toe misplaced at that point? No that was 199.

Speaker 1 18:41

I misspoke 199.76.

Speaker 2 18:45

Oh my gosh, that's so close. How did you guys feel after that? That was me. That was me. I did something wrong.

Speaker 4 18:51

It's definitely exciting. I feel like after the fact we try not to go into what we did wrong but say, oh, we did this really good.

Speaker 3 18:59

Sure.

Sideline Versus Competitive Cheer, Stereotypes, Stunt & Tumbling Athleticism, Presentation & Performance Art

Speaker 4 19:00

And we may have done this wrong or like done it not as best as we could, but we have practice and we have time to fix it for our next comp and to make ourselves better and to work harder for that goal.

Speaker 2 19:12

Makes sense. That makes sense. How many athletes on the team right now on competitive cheer?

Speaker 1 19:17

We have 24.

Speaker 2 19:18

24. So, and we're going to get into the rounds of who's competing, because I believe it's 16, 12 and then 16 again and the three different rounds. Let's talk about the difference real quick between sideline cheer and competitive cheer. One of the things as a person that has not been into it is where the public sees you, right, so public sees you at football games, ashlyn, but that's a totally different element than competitive cheer.

Speaker 5 19:40

Right, maybe speakeline cheer, how you guys view that, that type of thing yeah, so I feel like a lot of people view us especially for sideline, like like peppy girls that are just cheering on boys that's not like you don't want that, do you no? So that's like the negative stereotypes that we get, and a lot of that comes from, like the movies and shows too, but it's just.

Speaker 2 20:07

You have to deal with that kind of on the regular basis, right?

Speaker 5 20:10

Yeah.

Speaker 2 20:11

I must get old. It does yes, it's got to get old.

Speaker 4 20:15

Yes, it does. I feel like Sideline for us is also practicing what we want to do for competitive and showing people before we perform it on a mat. So it's getting us.

Speaker 2 20:26

It's almost like a pre-season for competitive are you able to shed that, that feeling, because you almost feel like second class athletes at times is? Would that be something like that coach?

Speaker 1 20:39

one of the things I've been pushing for this past season, especially in sideline, was more chant enhancements, where they're still cheering words but they're doing stunts with it, Because I think that if the crowd sees they're stunting or they're tumbling, that's going to show their athleticism more than just standing on the sidelines and chanting. Yeah.

Speaker 2 21:02

It does. It does wow you when you do those amazing things, because the weird part for this is, like when you have to deal with that on the regular, but your sport is so incredibly athletic like it's really athletic and when you don't know anything about something, you have a misconception. I went from being someone that never watched it to going to see it. I'm like okay. Conception. I went from being someone that never watched it to going to see it. I'm like okay, all right, there's a lot they have to do. I think the odd part is is there's so much else you have to do, right, like you have to the physical presentation of yourself as a person as far as hair, makeup, bows and hair. For the most part, like it's just this different element that you do.

Speaker 1 21:39

but that's, that's part of the judging too, ashlyn different element that you do, but that's part of the judging too, ashlyn. Yeah, so much as far as we require them to wear red lipstick, because that red lipstick pops to the judges. It accentuates their facial expressions. Same thing with mascara there's different makeup that I ask of them to wear so that their features are showcased.

Speaker 2 22:03

Yeah, and it's not something you have on right now.

Speaker 4 22:05

I mean that's definitely performance.

Strength Training, Explosive Energy & Focused Muscle Building, Different Positions In Stunting

Speaker 2 22:08

It's performance, art is part of it. But you know you have the components of cheer. You got your motions and claps, jumps, splits and flexibility, tumbling and stunting. I don't know if there's a more difficult sport than what you guys are doing. It's really difficult to pull this stuff off.

Speaker 3 22:29

Yeah, and you girls have become very familiar with the spot upstairs with Frank and doing some of that strength training. We always like to ask our athletes what have you seen as far as those benefits that you're getting out of those sessions with Frank? Kirsten, maybe you can speak to that first out of those sessions with Frank Kirsten.

Speaker 4 22:44

Maybe you can speak to that first. He definitely focuses on like explosion for our jumps and for our tumbling and just like exerting a bunch of our energy so we can be ready even when we're tired.

Speaker 5 22:57

Yeah, it's been really helpful for me, especially switching from a flyer to a base. I have to strengthen muscles that I never really used before, so Frank has really helped me with that.

Speaker 2 23:09

Let's go to those different positions, because someone who's listening doesn't know what they are. Maybe, uh, ashton, you want to start with uh, just pick one of them. Maybe flyer Cause you did that for a long time.

Speaker 5 23:17

Yeah, so flyer is the one in the air, the one that goes all the way up and we do all these cool things like lives and flips and stuff in the air and they're kind of known for being like the star of the show, but there's so much that goes underneath them to make it happen and I didn't even realize how much goes into it underneath until I became a base.

Speaker 3 23:44

Are these girls typically like smaller in stature, so that it's easier to make them fly in the air and flip around?

Speaker 1 23:49

Yeah, so the thing about that is you as a coach. I have to consider their center of gravity, so shorter girls have more control over their center of gravity than taller girls. But if I put a taller flyer in the air, your daughter, for example.

Speaker 2 24:03

She is a taller flyer in the air. Your daughter, for example.

Speaker 1 24:04

She is a taller flyer. I need to have taller bases under her to compensate for that.

Speaker 2 24:09

That's really cool. And, kirsten, you're a backspot, correct?

Speaker 4 24:12

Yes.

Speaker 2 24:13

Talk to us about that.

Speaker 4 24:14

The backspot stabilizes the group. We're on ankles, which we definitely don't seem like we lift a lot, but we stabilize the flyer and always make sure she's safe. If she's falling we catch her and there's no excuse for her to fall on the floor. We definitely support the group and help the bases out. We pull the ankles together so our flyer looks nice and pretty in the air. Yeah.

Speaker 1 24:38

A lot of detail with this stuff for the backspots to a lot of people don't realize is they have to have strong shoulders because their shoulders are always engaged, especially when they're holding something at an extended level. They're pushing up through those shoulders to keep everything safe and sturdy. I say the backspot is the backbone of the stunt. They're controlling everything and making sure it's strong.

Speaker 4 25:01

We also count the stunts. So when we put our flyer in the air we're like supposed to count.

Speaker 1 25:09

Sometimes the whole group counts, but a lot of the time it's just the back spot.

Speaker 2 25:12

We do everything to eight counts, tell us what we don't know, because there's some things I just I don't know. So go ahead, Go detail.

Speaker 4 25:20

We do everything to eight counts and we have a specific number that we go up on. Usually it's one, sometimes it can be three, sometimes it can be five, it's all over the place, but it just ensures that we're on time with everything and our whole group is working together to put our flyer up and if we're not all pushing up at the same time, it goes on level and it's on balanced.

Rounds Of Competition : Round One, The Entrance, Jumps, Floor Mobility, Vocals

Speaker 1 25:43

So so everybody knowing what they have to do on their certain counts is really important to making sure that a stunt hits properly. When one person is off, it's not going to hit clean or strong.

Speaker 2 25:57

No, and let's go. Let's go through the rounds, because you kind of it's a progressive. You know, moving from round one to two to three, it gets harder as you go. Right, fair enough, let's walk through a typical competition day. Let's talk about round one. I'm going to always go back to Jenison as my reference, but it doesn't have to be yours. The entrance first of all is it's high energy. You come in, there's a lot of that going on, everything kind of settles down. You guys get out there, get all set.

Speaker 5 26:25

Ashlyn explain what's happening in round one. So the main thing about round one is jumps, but we also do formability and obviously there's voice.

Speaker 2 26:37

Did you just say formability?

Speaker 1 26:40

What did you just say, florability?

Speaker 2 26:42

I was like formability. Okay, did you just say Florability? I was like formability.

Speaker 1 26:46

Okay, that's a new one All right. Florability.

Speaker 5 26:49

How you move, like making different formations, yes and then. So how long is round one A?

Speaker 1 26:54

minute and a half. A minute and a half is the max that it can be.

Speaker 5 26:58

Yes, so yeah, we say our words and we do our counts to our jumps and coach has us do all these like cool little spins and kicks and stuff.

Speaker 2 27:10

All synchronized.

Speaker 5 27:11

Yes.

Speaker 2 27:12

Tight.

Speaker 5 27:13

Yes.

Speaker 2 27:15

What's some challenging things in round one. Kirsten as a team.

Speaker 4 27:19

In round one. It's challenging because everybody can be doing something different. Um, round one is a lot of like squeezing and making sure you're doing what you're supposed to be doing on your time. So it can be you and like, for an example, five other people are doing the same thing. You need them to be doing it at the same time, in the same way, to like the angle of their arms to the angle of their feet, so then it doesn't look off timing with the people behind them or beside them. Um, ensuring that the picture is just there and it looks pretty.

Speaker 2 27:52

But do you guys ever like just go? How in the world are we pulling this off like it's?

Speaker 1 27:57

it's so hard coach it's, I think, because so many of these girls have done it for so long, it's become more of second nature. And then when we get a new athlete in who might have done another sport and not understand all the components to it, that's when you realize oh yeah, this is really hard.

Speaker 3 28:17

Yeah, I mean how many? If you're just a guess, how many hours of training have you put into round one this season? Ballpark figure?

Speaker 5 28:30

Oh well, at practice we usually spend like an hour.

Speaker 1 28:38

For sure at the beginning of the season. It's an hour of our practice time because the choreography is so complex.

Speaker 2 28:46

And.

Speaker 1 28:46

I have to teach this group their part and this group their part, and then we have to put it together and see if it looks good. And if it doesn't look good together, then we have to tweak it.

Speaker 2 28:54

Who does the choreography? Do you do it mostly? Do you have input from the athletes?

Speaker 1 28:59

It's a year-by-year thing. This year I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted it to look like, and then we brought in some other people. We went to a clinic and got some feedback from one of the coaches there and she ended up choreographing a little part of it. We brought in a specialist a performance specialist and then she ended up giving some feedback and we made some tweaks with her feedback. So it's been definitely a collaborative experience.

Speaker 2 29:25

It's got to be fun to learn something new or have a new routine.

Speaker 5 29:28

Yeah it is it is. I love learning new routines and adding new parts to our old routines, too that we've been doing for so long. It's cool to add new twists and stuff.

Speaker 2 29:42

Russians it up a little bit oh, absolutely, you gotta have to have that. Are you gonna say you can't?

Speaker 3 29:47

you couldn't say hey, I really loved our round one from 2022. We're gonna roll back out with that same one again, or is that kind of frowned upon?

Speaker 1 29:57

um, honestly, it depends. If anybody would remember, I've taken parts from old rounds. Well, even this year there was something we did last year and people really liked it, so I brought it back this year and it's two different words and at a different point, but it's like a repeat of the same motions and movements with the team.

Speaker 1 30:20

So it's fun for the girls, it's like a little callback for them yeah I noticed round one two is it feels like it's the loudest vocals round one is our strongest with vocals and I think it's because round two we're doing tumbling and jumps and yelling words at the same time. In round three we're stunting and yelling words, but round one we're just doing a lot of motions and floor movements. And it's at the beginning, so their energy is still really high, that's true. And it is definitely where we're scoring the highest on our vocals.

Speaker 2 30:53

Kirsten, who gets to write these cheers. Do you guys have any input on that? It's kind of fun to listen to them, to be honest.

Speaker 4 31:00

To write them the words.

Speaker 2 31:03

Yeah, the words, the rhymes, you guys in on that, or not?

Speaker 4 31:08

Not really. No, Coach Work does a lot of it. She definitely has input and will ask us about what we think and if it flows and will ask us for suggestions. But she definitely makes up a lot of it and spends her time going through what she thinks would sound good and sounds good.

Speaker 2 31:25

Do you have to like kind of follow rules on that, or can you be creative in that space For the words? Yeah.

Speaker 1 31:31

There's not really any rules on words. We just it can't be like negative or demeaning towards anything?

Speaker 2 31:38

No, but you can have fun with it you know yeah. I would. I would try and have fun with it. To be honest, it's kind of a fun, creative space.

Speaker 1 31:44

We are hearing teams becoming more and more creative with their words. For example, this year Granville says dogs got to eat.

Speaker 2 31:53

Okay, a couple times.

Speaker 1 31:55

So that was creative and out of the box thinking.

Speaker 3 32:00

I remember back to my first year as AD here and we're getting ready for our invite and Kelly Polinski, who was a coach here for years and she was kind of helping run the meet, and she comes up to me and she goes. I need you to announce today. And so I got like thrown in the first cheer event I have ever been to and I was the lead announcer. But I remember round one just being blown away with how loud it was from the girls on the mats. It definitely changes as the day goes on. Round three you don't really hear much but they're up in the air and stunting all over the place and that's the one that freaks me out as an AD now, because the tumbles are from way up high.

Speaker 2 32:43

One other cool part I thought about round one. Let's see what you guys think about this. Some schools start getting the parent section involved. Kirsten, is that always been around? Is that a new thing? What's that like?

Speaker 4 32:55

I believe it's always been around. It's definitely exciting. It makes a little break for us while they're yelling the words and it's just exciting to see we have somebody cheering for us. We have parents cheering for us. We have friends and family that are like willing to come and watch our long, our long meets. But it's definitely exciting having them be there for us and just knowing a part of our routine. I feel like I feel like if I were to ask some of the people up there, they would be able to like do it with us like our actual routine.

Speaker 2 33:28

Oh, no kidding, I love it. Yeah, that's really sweet.

Between Round Transition, Round Two Begins, The Exact Same Routine for All, Tumbling & Jumps

Speaker 1 33:31

And there is a component to training the parents to make sure that they do cheer with us. We always have a showcase at the beginning of before we do our first competition. When we invite the parents in, we go through the different round elements and then, if we do have a callback section of our chair, we tell them where that is and then we teach them how to call back with us so that they're involved. It's something that was more popular on the east side but has become popular on the west side of the state now.

Speaker 2 33:59

It's a pretty fun element, at least looking at it from the outside. Round one ends. You're busy, Ashlyn. What's going on between rounds? Because it's got to be hectic.

Speaker 5 34:08

So we quickly go to the locker room and change our uniforms to the round two and sometimes, depending on our order, we might be able to get a quick bite to eat. So we stay energized.

Speaker 2 34:20

But usually then we have to go right back to the practice room and get working on round two does it go by like really fast, like does it feel like a whirlwind, like it's just pedals down, we're going quick yes, most of the time yeah, I can imagine that now you guys come out. Uh, round two has 12 instead of 16. Kirsten, explain the difference um.

Speaker 4 34:42

Round two. Everybody is doing the exact same thing throughout the whole entire routine, to the timing on our jumps, to the timing on our skills. Everything has to be together or it starts being deductions. Round two is very precise on where, like our arms are. If somebody's arm is angled a little bit differently, like we're going to get a point off, and everybody has to be yelling the words and giving the same amount of like. How they move their head has to be the same. So it's definitely down to yeah, it's definitely down to T, but it's exciting it's a little bit quieter because there are only 12 instead of 16. We're doing skills as well, like we're doing tumbling and jumps, but it's definitely exciting to see everybody doing the same thing and to see how well we can do that.

Speaker 2 35:33

Yeah, it's pretty cool to watch. It's a it's there's less people, but there's more demanding on you. This is where your gymnastics background starts to come into play, right.

Speaker 4 35:43

Yes, yeah, with the tumbling we do, fat can springs, which is exciting. It's definitely for the first time, doing it with somebody right in front of you and right behind you, a mat length away, is definitely scary, but that goes into doing it at the same time and having our form be the same, but it's definitely exciting.

Speaker 1 36:06

If they don't go at the same time, they hit each other, yes. So that's where that precision is important, and they always get nervous the first couple times doing it, if they're new in that round and they freak out and they think they're going to hit somebody. But then if they go on time on their right counts, nobody hits and it's beautiful.

Speaker 2 36:25

You have to really start trusting the people around you.

Speaker 3 36:27

Yeah, Kind of goes back to all of those team bonding activities and really getting to know everybody that's on your team and building that trust, Even when you're playing games and that sort of thing. You're starting to develop those habits.

Speaker 5 36:47

What does it take to score well in this round ashland? So, like they were saying, like precision is the biggest thing, like we all have to look the same, and that definitely takes a lot of practice and yeah, and then the tumbling and jumps, and then flexibility, so that can be splits.

Speaker 2 37:05

And there's different level of difficulty. Right Coach.

Speaker 1 37:08

There is, yeah. So each skill has a difficulty factor put towards it and a lot of the things that we do are a difficulty multiplier of one. But if you can get those higher level skills back walkover, back handspring, back tuck, those have higher difficulty multipliers. So if you got a 10 on a back handspring you would get 12 points for the skill what's some of your top moves in round two? Backhand springs right now are our top. We've been working really hard on back tucks, the snow days really.

Speaker 2 37:45

I saw that on Instagram right. Was that that Instagram reel?

Speaker 1 37:48

Yeah, the snow days really affected that progression that we had, because we do bring in a private tumbling coach and every snow day we had this year was on our tumbling day, so we've missed so many tumbling days because, of the snow. But the girls do put in a lot of time. I give them time at practice. I've been doing a ton of spotting and we're so close. We'll see if we get them by districts.

Speaker 2 38:10

That's the goal it's just so many people to be able to execute a move at a high level you have to have 12 people landing them.

Speaker 1 38:17

So if we we can't have 12 people landing them, I don't want to put eight people that can land them and then four people that fall on their face. That's not safe and it's not going to get us the points we want.

Speaker 5 38:29

Yeah.

Speaker 2 38:31

What is it, what's it like to try and bring people along? I'm sure for you, kirsten, that's something that, based on your background, probably comes naturally to you. Fair enough or no? Yeah?

Speaker 4 38:42

Gymnastics is really almost different than cheer. It's you put yourself out there and you don't rely on anybody else. When you're training, yes, but when you're on the, on the floor, on whatever event you're on, it's just how you do as an individual. But stepping onto a team like this, you have to be doing well and you have to make sure the person next to you is also doing well. So it's checking in on them and checking yourself. It's definitely more collaborative than how you just do individually, because you can do it good individually, but if you're the only one doing good, then it doesn't help.

Speaker 2 39:22

The ability to get better. Like is it a long road to get everybody to pull this move off? How long does it take? It must be pretty hard.

Speaker 1 39:30

It's more about the mindset, because if the athlete believes or really wants the skill, they're going to put the work into it. As soon as they start to feel defeated or any self-doubt, they put less work into the skill and then the execution of it takes longer. We have girls that have been working on back tucks for two years now who will throw them sometimes, but not all the times, because then they get nervous and they start overthinking things. So it's definitely for me as a coach more about helping them believe that they can do a skill in order for them to start executing it.

Speaker 2 40:08

Yeah, that's got to be really hard, because I mean, you're putting your body at risk as well.

Speaker 5 40:12

Yeah, and then if you get hurt, that can create a big mental block for you and it gets really scary.

Speaker 2 40:19

And that happens in practice.

Speaker 1 40:20

Yes, we had a girl dislocate her elbow when she was working on her back handspring and she had just gotten to the point where she was feeling confident to throw it on her own and then she dislocated her elbow and we have not been able to get her over that mental block all season. Yeah, it's wild.

And Then Round Three Comes, Short Transition, Staying Calm, Creativity, Stunting & Tumbling

Speaker 2 40:39

It's very understandable. It's, I mean, I, I. The challenges that you're facing, just as a group are. There's just so many from all these different aspects, right, the mental side, the physical side, being able to do it in unison. And then round three comes. We're good, old fashioned round three comes. We're good, old-fashioned round three. Round three comes out. You guys had an incredibly short transition from round two to round three at Jenison. So I'm watching and I'm like, okay, let's see where they are. All right. So they're near the end of round two and I looked at round three. I'm like, no way, how close is that, Kirsten? Is that about as close as you've seen it?

Speaker 4 41:21

It was definitely close because we have to get off of the mat and change and then have all of our round three people in the mat room getting warmed up, warming up their tumbling, warming up stunts, and it's just, it takes so much time to change and get over there that it's almost difficult to start right away and we still have to rewarm up our bodies. It's almost difficult to like start right away and we still have to like rewarm up our bodies and it's definitely like, especially with such a short transition, it's hard to not feel frantic and to not get ahead of yourself and just to feel really nervous. Um, a lot of people get nervous before round or like after or before round two. Sorry um for for after for round three, but it definitely is all mental because we know we can do it in that short of a time. It's just we get all frantic.

Speaker 2 42:07

Do you have any techniques to stay calm under pressure? Ashlyn, Is there anything you do on purpose?

Speaker 5 42:13

Well, one thing that we do is that we visualize the rounds before we go out there. So we all get in a circle and we close our eyes and we whisper the words and the counts and we visualize what we're gonna do on the mat to help it run smoothly I love that.

Speaker 2 42:30

Yeah, and that's a really kind of close moment as a group right and everyone's kind of dialed in finding their space.

Speaker 3 42:42

Coach, do you share with your athletes the round orders ahead of time so they have kind of an idea of where they're going to be each round?

Speaker 1 42:46

Yes, I do share the round order and this Jenison one was the first time this season that we had such a short turnover and it was very stressful for us. We actually didn't get to fully warm up our round three before we had to go out on the mat. So that was a little nerve wracking, especially because we had new people in spots that had never done the round before. But I told them that that was a good practice for districts, because we're going to have another short turnover between round two and round three at districts. So that was our little practice with that transition.

Speaker 2 43:25

Is round three one of the more creative rounds for you as a team coach?

Speaker 1 43:30

Yeah, I love choreographing round three just because you can do so many different things with the stunts to make the picture look fun and creative. But it is also challenging if you can't hit those elite level stunts that you want to hit and then you have to alter your vision and change the level of the stunts. But it's a lot of fun because you have the stunting and you have the tumbling aspect that you can tie in. And then I get to showcase my different abilities on my team. So if I have girls that can do tucks but we don't have 12 tucks, they get to do them in round three.

Speaker 2 44:09

Yes, it's a very creative round. You're in your stunt groups.

Speaker 4 44:14

You're kind of moving all over the place too right, kristen it's sometimes hard to get to our spots like cleanly, but it is definitely exciting to be moving all over the mat and to get to showcase what we can do and what we can do.

Speaker 3 44:29

Well, I always like round three. I always will glance over at the athletic trainers, and they're the ones that are the most nervous about round three.

Speaker 2 44:43

Do you guys do as seniors? Are you in all three rounds, do you are?

Speaker 5 44:45

you in a couple rounds. What's it like for you guys? Um, so I am in round one and I'm I've been in and out of round three yeah um, yeah, I'm not in round two, but yeah, and that's part of being on a team, right?

Speaker 2 44:57

you? You take your skills and apply them to a different spot where your strengths are that sort of thing, yeah.

Speaker 4 45:03

And then I'm in all three. You're in all three.

Supporting Others When Off the Matt

Speaker 2 45:06

So that's very demanding as well being in all three. Yes, that's not easy to pull off. No, it's definitely exhausting, but everybody else on the team, regardless of whether they're in the rounds or not, is also working and cheering us on. So it's rewarding to get to hear them cheering us on. Ashlyn, as a captain, you're in round one and then sometimes around three, but you still have a big role in round two and three.

Speaker 2 45:34

So you're a senior, you know you see this stuff. Now, what are you busy doing to make an impact on your team in round two, for an example?

Speaker 5 45:42

So a big thing to do is cheering them on, and when they're performing, I go crazy.

Speaker 2 45:49

I'm not kidding.

Speaker 5 45:50

Yeah, I don't care if no one else is cheering.

Speaker 2 45:52

Do you carry a cowbell with you? No, just kidding. I am not allowed to.

Speaker 5 45:55

But some of the parents do yeah, they do yeah, um, but yeah, especially when they're going for those big skills, it's important to cheer them on and let them know that they can do it. And it's also when you're on the mat everything feels really quiet and you feel like isolated. So it's important to like be able to hear the crowd and know that someone is out there cheering for you.

Speaker 2 46:20

How does that make a difference for you? What's what does that do for you as an athlete?

Speaker 5 46:25

So, like when I am in round one, if I were to mess up, I can start getting in my head and like start worrying and then start making more mistakes. But if someone is out there cheering for me and tells me to keep going and stuff, then that can help me get over that and keep going to do what I need to do for my team.

Speaker 2 46:47

So you, you feel that and you give that to others.

Speaker 5 46:49

Yeah.

Speaker 2 46:50

I got you.

Speaker 3 46:51

And this kind of segues perfectly. Thanks for setting this up for me. So we talked a little bit about this as we were getting set up today, one thing that stands out to me always in cheer is that you go out for round one, two or three and inevitably there's a mistake made Right, and I would liken that to missing a shot in basketball. Except it is very different in the world of cheer, because there's not like another possession, because there's not like another possession. It's the round that you're in and you've got, let's say, you make this mistake 20 seconds into a minute and a half. You've got to kind of get over it. What are some things, ashlyn, that you do kind of in your head to get yourself over it? Or is it just kind of focusing in on that crowd that you were just talking about?

Life Lessons Of Competitive Cheer, A Million Ways To Get Over It, Relying On Eachother

Speaker 5 47:36

Yeah, so I usually just when you make mistakes in practice. It's like you make mistakes in practice and we work through those to get over the mistakes so you learn how to work around it. You work on keep going, so yeah.

Speaker 2 48:04

As seniors, when you guys you know we're kind of getting near the end of the podcast here, but like I must imagine being involved in this sport, the life lessons here I mean you face adversity, you face failure, you face new challenges on the regular as a senior. How has this impacted your life, kirsten?

Speaker 4 48:24

It definitely shows like if one thing goes wrong, there's a million other ways to get over it. It's taught so much about leadership, not even through being a captain, but just like through being on a team that relies on everybody. It shows you that you can rely on other people and other people can rely on you.

Speaker 2 48:43

I know all these sports do a lot, but I I'm actually kind of blown away by the volume of things that you have to deal with on a regular basis to perform.

Speaker 5 48:52

Yeah.

Speaker 2 48:53

It's, it's, so it's very overwhelming. To be honest, coach, you're laughing.

Speaker 1 48:59

Yeah, practice is never long enough no, because we we have to practice all three rounds but we also have to practice the skills for the rounds. But then we also will face challenges within the team that we have to spend time working through, because if we're not united as a team it causes problems in our competition, in our performance. So, making sure that we have that time to build together as a team and learn how to handle conflicts when they come our way and learn how to just work together and that's most athletic teams.

District Competition At Hudsonville, Growing & Coaching The Younger Generation, Team Goals For Saturday, Thanks

Speaker 2 49:34

Most athletic teams deal with some version of that right and whenever it's, whenever it's really good, makes everything else easy. When it's not as tight, it's tougher.

Speaker 3 49:44

Yeah so we're gonna, we're gonna hope for no snow, right so?

Speaker 1 49:50

we can?

Speaker 3 49:50

we can get through this week of practice because we've got a big meet on saturday we do over at hudsonville districts. This is our kind of entry into the post season and we'll see where things go on Saturday. I'm excited to get back over there for what is always a fun meet.

Speaker 2 50:07

We'll just do one more thing here. We'll try and work this in. A lot of this is starting to do it. When you're young. You guys have a fairly healthy youth program right now. Coach, can you speak to a few of those things? There's the township rocket. You got the fourth, fifth and sixth graders all active.

Speaker 1 50:24

Yeah. So when I took over this program one of the things the deficits I saw was not growing that younger generation and getting them excited for cheer. So I had been working closely with the township to build up that hype for our youth cheer and my varsity girls are actually the coaches for them. So that's like a big undertaking. During our sideline season I train them how to coach and handle children because that's like a big task in itself of a high school student. But the biggest thing is building those relationships with those little girls and getting them excited. They come and sit and watch them at football games and then just keeping that connection with the families. I've been letting them know when our competitions are. We had a huge group of elementary girls at our home competition cheering these girls on um.

Speaker 2 51:20

They've become role models how great was it, is it for you two to be involved in that. When she mentioned that, you guys pretty much smiled ear to ear yeah, I love the rocket girls so much.

Speaker 5 51:32

I love being like a role model for them and showing them what cheer is about.

Speaker 2 51:37

What's it like for you?

Speaker 4 51:38

It is definitely so exciting to see them at like the practices, when we coach them, and just to see how happy they can be and when we see them and acknowledge them and remember their names. It's just so excited to see them light up and just to light up about like the talk about cheer and just being excited to go and being excited for something and just like the expedition team when we watched them. It was so exciting to see them and it was like we felt so proud of them, about, like what they've accomplished and how they've gotten over things. Like when we coached them they were not that far then. To just see them and to see them run off the mat after their round is like they're all hugging each other and they're all excited and it's we're all so proud all right, what do you guys hope to do at districts?

Speaker 1 52:27

just have a nice performance, get 200 yeah, we have our, our goals for each round. We want to be in the mid 220s for round one, we need to cross that 200 threshold in round two, and then high 200s for round three so we can get an overall score above 700.

Speaker 2 52:46

It's so important to do. Those mini goals are everything they really are, and then you feel like you've accomplished something, you're moving forward. It's good to do. You guys probably got to get to practice. This has been really nice to spend time with you. I think it's great for the community to hear about the really incredible things that you're doing. Just remember everybody, we are West Ottawa, we are a community, we are each other, and you know, listening to you guys talk about your sport, it just encourages us as well.

Speaker 3 53:13

Thanks so much again for taking some time to come in and sit down with us.

Speaker 1 53:16

Thanks for having us. Yeah, thank you for having us.

Speaker 2 53:19

Thanks.