Allison Aker, a freshman, Abby Fisher, a sophomore, and her sister Kayla, a senior, all cheered at Brookhaven High School, while Rebecca Barker, a freshman, cheered at Wesson High School. The girls are all in their first year as MC cheerleaders.
"It's fun because my sister and I have cheered together, and I've cheered with Allison, and now we have all these other fun girls to cheer with too," said Abby Fisher.
Kayla Fisher said she had somewhat given up cheering after high school, but helping Abby prepare for tryouts was what made her break her pom-poms back out.
"I didn't do it for the past three years, until now," she said. "My sister was going to try out, and I watching her and critiquing her, and I realized how much I missed it, so I decided to try out too."
And there is a little bit of school pride amongst the girls from Brookhaven, Aker said.
"We're all pretty good, and we're all really nice to each other on our squad," she said. "But we do brag about being the Brookhaven girls."
Barker said even though she's from Wesson, there's still a bond there for her too, since the two schools and communities are so close together. She said the girls all knew of each other, and now they're on the same squad.
"I just think it's great, because now we're cheering together," she said. "I love it just that we can talk to each other if we miss home. And Abby and I are stunt partners, so it works out really good."
Tryouts were nerve-wracking for some of the girls, though Aker said she was lucky when it came to that. She was unable to be there the day of tryouts, and had a little different tryout than the other girls.
"I had to send in a video," she said. "I wasn't really that nervous because I didn't have to actually go and be with everyone else and do the competition, so it wasn't that nerve-wracking."
Barker said it was the support she got from the other MC cheerleaders that got her through tryout time.
"It's always nerve-wracking to try out," she said. "I was just impressed by how sweet the girls from MC were."
All the girls agreed that the long hours of practice pay off when game time comes around.
"I love cheering in front of the crowd," said Kayla Fisher. "Especially when the team is winning. I love being a part of that, and to see my fellow school members in the stands."
Abby agreed with her sister.
"I guess the games are my favorite because it's so much bigger than high school, and such a different experience," she said. "And it's always really exciting when you can see everyone in the crowd."
Barker said more than just the thrill of game time, the feeling of belonging is a plus to being on the cheer squad.
"It's nice to have a group that you already belong to," she said. "There are already people to eat lunch with and do things with, and you're not really on your own."
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