Piled on top of each other with bright smiles, cheerleaders from the Tech Cheer Gunsmoke team, including senior Macy Alexander, pose for a picture. Alexander has been cheering since she was three years old and is currently on the high school cheer team as well as the Tech Cheer Gunsmoke team. “As someone who’s cheered their whole life, I’ve learned what it’s like to be a teammate and to be someone that’s there for their other teammates and know that I always had people to go to if I needed something,” Alexander said. “We know when it’s the right time to joke around, but we also know we have a goal, and by the end of the season that goal is consuming our brains and having to work together has always been an important aspect. You’re not doing it for yourself, you’re doing it for everyone around you.” Photo Courtesy of Macy Alexander

‘All you fans, help us out, yell go big green!’ The final words of the cheer ring out on the field, and the cheerleaders erupt in cheers and encouraging smiles. The moonlight and stadium lights illuminate the field as another play begins and the cheerleaders get back into position, preparing for their next cheer. 

Senior Macy Alexander is a captain of the varsity cheerleading team and has been cheering since she was three years old. Along this journey, she said that rough practices and unmotivated teammates have caused her to consider quitting, but her teammates have helped her continue. 

“The high school team here I’ve had a really good bond with [which] has made it really nice to be committed to the program and stay in the program,” Alexander said. “I also feel like my outside of school team that I’m on right now [has] been my favorite bond because it’s a team where we know we need to involve the little ones, so making sure that everyone is staying together [and] feels welcome onto the team [is] really important for us.”

Alexander is a cheerleader for Tech Cheer Gunsmoke outside of school. Unlike high school cheer, her outside of school team includes cheerleaders ranging from seventh grade to twelfth grade. 

“Getting put on a random team with random strangers at the beginning of the season [and becoming] close family friends has always been one of my favorite things,” Alexander said. “Cheer brings so many people to you that you weren’t expecting to meet, [and I like] getting to create the family friendships that [I] didn’t think [I’d] be able to.”

Both of Alexander’s older sisters began cheering when they were three, and she said that they have had the greatest impact on her decision to do cheerleading.

“Following in my older sisters’ footsteps and getting to watch them grow as athletes made me want to be the type to also grow as an athlete,” Alexander said. “I always knew that they were there [for me], so getting to be like them was always a wish when I was little, [and] getting to follow them has always been something that influenced me to keep going.”

Every summer, the cheer team goes to a UCA cheerleading camp to learn more about what it’s like to be a cheerleader. Alexander said that being a senior at the UCA camp allowed her to experience the camp with a new perspective. 

“Going as a freshman, sophomore and junior, you don’t get to see it the way everyone else does,” Alexander said. “It’s your first time and you’re worried about impressing people and making sure you’re following all the rules, but as a senior it’s more so all about having fun and getting to spend your last camp teaching more so than learning, so getting to teach them what it’s like to be a cheerleader at UCA camp was definitely my favorite memory.”

The cheer team placed 6th in the nation at UCA Nationals. Alexander said she enjoyed helping the team achieve this ranking. 

“[I’m most proud of] leading the team into the top ten,” Alexander said. “Getting to lead them to be sixth in the nation was one of the things that really hit home knowing that my hard work paid off for them to get to experience the feeling of doing good and being awesome. It really hit home that I got to help them experience something they probably hadn’t been able to experience before.”

Alexander will be attending Tarleton State University after graduation to study health science, and she will be trying out for the cheerleading team on May 16th and 17th, with results being announced on May 18th. She has been preparing for tryouts since October by taking weekly lessons with a private coach, going to clinics at Tarleton once a month, and practicing with other cheerleaders who are hoping to cheer at the college level. 

“As someone who’s cheered their whole life, I’ve learned what it’s like to be a teammate and to be someone that’s there for their other teammates and know that I always had people to go to if I needed something,” Alexander said. “We know when it’s the right time to joke around, but we also know we have a goal, and by the end of the season that goal is consuming our brains and having to work together has always been an important aspect. You’re not doing it for yourself, you’re doing it for everyone around you.”