During the week of March 29-April 2, Hays High offered middle and high school students the opportunity to try out for the cheerleading squad.

COVID-19 affected many sports throughout the school year, but cheer tryouts went as scheduled.

“We are not having to make any major changes this year due to COVID,” cheer coach MacKenzie James said. “Last year, we had to teach everything online and have videos submitted as a tryout, and that made things much more difficult than being in person. Really the only thing that we’ve paid more attention to this year than we would have in the past is who is in groups with each other.”

Last year, the cheer team had 24 members with 16 on the varsity squad and eight on the junior varsity squad. This year, around 28 people tried out for the team.

“Typically, we have three tryout practices,” James said. “During these practices, we go over basic cheer motions such as jumps, stunts and tumbling. People trying out also learn the Hays High fight song, a dance and a cheer. After that, we have actual tryouts. This is where a panel of three to six judges will score the participants in all of those categories, and then they are placed on a team based on that tryout score.”

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