The cheerleading squad unrolls the blue mats and begin their normal workouts. They start with some stretches and basic warm ups, followed by stunt techniques and actual practice.

Their next competition under the co-ed division will be held at Niles West on Thursday, Jan. 9.

According to Varsity Assistant coach Erin Donnelly, a typical warm up starts at 3:50 p.m. to 4:10 p.m. After fifty jumping jacks and some stretches, Donnelly plays some music and- taking it as a cue- the cheerleaders get in their usual positions to start practicing for their upcoming contest.

“Practice normally runs until around 6 pm,” Donnelly said. “It lasts an hour or so later if we are competing ”

Throughout practice, the cheerleaders seem to be very supportive of each other. High fives and fist pumps are contagious around the team. If one of them is working on some stunt, they all pay attention to that person and cheer him/her on.

“We all stick up for each other and care about each other like it was one of our own family members,” senior Rebecca Lapaglia said.

Unlike how most movies have portrayed cheerleaders- overly dramatic and extremely gossipy- the squad is very hard working and try to remain focused just like any other athletic team.

“In the movies they always portray cheerleaders as the ‘mean girls’ of the school who bully others,” junior Elizabeth Byrne said. “However, my teammates are the sweetest people I know. You would never see a cheerleader at Niles West bullying someone. Cheerleaders are also portrayed as dumb but we are all pretty smart and we work hard for our grades.”

Junior Timothy Donahue agrees with Byrne and talks about some other stereotypes he notices.

“It’s all about the male cheerleader either being gay or forced to wear a skirt but really it’s all not true,” he said. “If you see how hard I’ve worked and how much stronger I’ve gotten since I started- I’ve gotten a lot bigger. [Male] cheerleaders are just regular guys that joined a sport just like every other guy did with his sport.”

Donahue and Bryan Bueno are the only guys on the squad. During practice, they help out with a lot of stunt work and catching the girls in the air- with the other ground cheerleaders.

Lapaglia says the guys play an important role on the team.

“They are the ones who keep us motivated, push us harder than we can push ourselves and keep the drama to a minimum,” she said.

Junior Shirley Nguyen agrees with Lapaglia.

“It’s important to work with the guys because they work just as hard as we do and the other way around,” she said. “We all learn things from each other.”

Donahue confesses that he enjoys the attention he receives being a male cheerleader and doesn’t care if people thought of him differently after making the decision to join.

Instructions are shouted at the team as they get in the “pyramid” position. They chant and push themselves to the limit. Beads of sweat begin forming on the cheerleaders’ foreheads and the girls’ ponytails get messier as they continue to practice their stunts.

The team members seem to be very comfortable around each other and with their coach. They brainstorm different ideas of how to perform a certain stunt as they move along during practice.

Byrne says that the team members keep their issues away from practice.

“When we come to practice we know we need to work together so we just leave everything at the door,” she said.