Foundation Academy cheer ready for new season

With the start of the school year finally here, the buzz around campuses right now is the arrival of football season.

But there’s more to the season than simply football. There’s the sounds of the crowd roaring after a big play, the blasting of horns and drums from the marching band section and then, there on the sideline, there’s the unmistakable sound of the embodiment of the school’s spirit: the cheer team.

With pompoms in hand, the cheerleaders of Foundation Academy — dressed in their best blue — worked through their cheers in front of the home stands during the Lions’ preseason Kickoff Classic game against Orlando Christian Prep Friday, Aug. 16.

“We are the Lions, we’re here to show you how, just how we do it and break it down!,” they cheered in unison. “Varsity is here, navy blue and white, the best of the best — you know, that’s right!”

That cheer — which is a favorite of senior Grace Langhoff — is known as the “varsity cheer.” If you make it out to a Lions football game this season, it’s one of the many cheers that will be performed by the school’s cheer squad.

Friday night’s game was the first time in a long while that the girls on the cheer team got to actually perform in front of a live, cheering game audience at a still relatively new home field— which, in and of itself, makes the wait worth it.

“I’m personally so excited to cheer on our home field, because for so long we’ve been having to rent a field 20 minutes away from our school, so it’s so nice to finally call a field on our own property ‘Lion Field,’” senior Sydney Ragsdale said. “And just to have the student section filled and everyone cheering for you, it means so much just knowing that all my hard work is being showcased and appreciated.”

Over the last few months, members like Ragsdale, Langoff and fellow senior Maria Kime have worked tirelessly through the summer to get ready for the new season.

It’s also been a summer of change for the girls, as new head coach Rachel Carey took over the program, adding her own spin to things while also keeping previous traditions. So far, through the past few months, things have gone pretty well, Carey said.

“The girls have had really good attitudes,” Carey said. “They’ve been positive with every challenge or skill that I’ve given them  — they’ve kind of risen to the occasion. I’ve been pleased with how well they’ve done so far.”

While cheer members got some time to enjoy their summer,  there were countless practices to participate in to help them not only learn new cheers, but to get them better conditioned for the season ahead.

Back in July, both the JV and varsity squad participated in the Fellowship of Christian Cheerleaders Camp at Rosen Shingle Creek Resort Hotel, where they each finished off the camp by taking second place in the championship competition.

“We’ve been working really hard over the summer,” Kime said. “We went to two different camps, so we have a lot of stuff that we have practiced and we are really excited to get to show it to people besides our parents.”

Nowadays, the cheer team is in practice twice a week, while also spending two days a week in the weight room working on their physical strength. 

It’s a process of preparing for not just the football season, but also for the competitive season and beyond for the girls. It’s something new for the younger girls on the squad, but for the seniors like Ragsdale, Kime and Langhoff, it’s same old same old with one big difference: after six years in the cheer program, this will be their last year of varsity cheer.

“It’s honestly an honor to be able to wear the mascot across our chest, and it’s something that I would never discount,” Langhoff said. “And the fact that we get to be basically the faces of the sports and the school is really just such an honor.”