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Kelly High School cheerleaders earn fifth place finish at NCA championship
BENTON, Mo. — The Thomas W. Kelly High School cheerleading team finished fifth overall at the national competition late last month in Dallas, Texas.
Billy Hoskins, Kelly’s head cheer coach, claimed months of preparation go into getting the girls ready for competing on the national level.
Hoskins noted after the girls’ tryouts, they begin choreography whenever the choreographer is available, and this year their choreographer arrived at the end of June.
“The choreographer flew in from Houston (Texas), and we did choreography for three days, and then we did camp,” Hoskins said. “Then after that, we started with their conditioning practices, making sure they have good upper body strength.
Hoskins continued: “Then once school starts in August, we practice every day for about two weeks, and then we brush off to about four days a week up until nationals,” Hoskins said.
Hoskins also added during Christmas break right after state, they practiced almost every day.
“We were editing the routine to make sure we had the necessary skills for nationals,” Hoskins said.
Peyton Merrick, senior on Kelly’s cheer team, also claimed they’ve put in a lot of time and hard work to prepare for nationals.
“The fact that we have put over 200-300 hours into this one routine,” said Merrick. “We have been working on this routine since the summer.”
Katelyn Evans, senior and cheerleader at Kelly, said she had gone to nationals twice before this year, and one thing she learned from this year’s experience was to be thankful.
“Definitely to be thankful,” Evans said. “There’s not any other cheer teams around here that get to go.”
Merrick went on to say this chance and experience was about the journey, not the endpoint.
“It’s about the journey, not the destination, and we really learned a lot, and we’re just so thankful for our experience,” Merrick said. “I mean, we were expecting more than what we got, but we are also thankful for what we got as well.”
Hoskins added even though they didn’t win first, this was still a huge accomplishment for the girls due to the high level of competition that they were up against.
“The girls were 0.8 from second place, and we were 1.7 from first place, and all of the teams that beat us besides one team had 2,700 kids in their high school alone and we have 300 hundred,” Hoskins said. “We’re competing against the Kansas City teams, the St. Louis teams, we’re not competing against schools that are our size; we’re with the big boys.
He continued: “That’s something that I think people should know: we don’t go to Dallas and just compete with people whose schools are in our class; they’re way outside.”
Evans also mentioned that they beat 11 teams and finished fifth out of 17 teams overall in nationals, which she described as a huge accomplishment.
“So they took the top 10 out first, you got your award and you just left,” Evans said. “But being able to be the last people on the mat waiting to hear our place was really cool.”
Merrick also mentioned how inspiring it is to see female athletes thrive in sports, especially in the southeast Missouri area.
“Whenever you think of cheerleading, a lot of people around here think of sideline cheer,” Merrick said. “People don’t see how much work and effort we put into a two-minute, 30-second routine.”
Merrick added being able to perform and put the routine they worked so hard on out there meant a lot.
Evans and Merrick also talked about what it was like to compete in nationals and how it felt to perform at the Kay Bailey Convention Center in Dallas.
“It’s definitely nerve-racking, but the feeling of performing is unlike no other, truly,” Merrick said. “It’s a lot different than regionals and state where you’re just in front of a small crowd. You’ve got the bright lights on you, and it feels like a movie, really.” Merrick said.
Evans agreed.
“And the photographers and just seeing all the people that you love in the small little crowd because that’s all of our families,” Evans said. “At state, everyone can come, but at nationals not everyone can go to Dallas, so it feels special to be able to still hear your families in that big crowd of people.”
Hoskins said he believes it’s important for the girls to go to nationals not just for the experience but because it’s beneficial, and the girls get better by competing on a national level.
Hoskins also added just how truly special it is to represent Kelly on a national level.
“We take a lot of pride in ourselves for just being good ambassadors for the school,” Hoskins said.
Hoskins emphasized the community that supports them feels pride in them, and it is essential to acknowledge their support.
“You know the community that supports us takes a lot of pride in us as well, and I think we need to uphold their support and, you know, do it right by them,” Hoskins said. “It means a whole lot. It’s my life; it’s these kids’ lives and their parents are getting them back and forth to practice, so it means a lot.”
Hoskins also noted and went into detail on what exactly the girls gain from this experience as a whole, and what all they learn as far as how to be self-disciplined.
“The experience just on its own is the biggest part, and the other thing that they learned is how to be disciplined,” Hoskins said. “You know, in life you have to be disciplined. I work from home; I have to be disciplined to do my job without supervision, and that’s what I hope they gain as well, just to be disciplined in life and to know that in life things are going to get rough.”
Hoskins also said that even though sometimes things could be tough, the girls were always still disciplined and hard workers.
“We had a practice that was the Wednesday before we left, and I probably had a handful of girls in tears, and if it had been any other team, those kids probably would of quit on me, but they never gave up,” Hoskins said. “And you know being disciplined, not giving up, showing up and putting in the work are life traits that you need once you graduate high school.”