Varsity cheer team thrives under new leadership

Katie Samol | The Chronicle

As the Mason High School (MHS) Varsity Sideline Cheer Team gets their fall season rolling, they are kicking it off with a team that is significantly different from that of last season.

Last year, the MHS Varsity Sideline Cheer Team had 16 seniors with three captains; the seniors made up over 70 percent of the team. This season, their roster has two seniors who are both captains – Isabella White and Jayci Kraft.

In the past, the captains were voted on by the members of the team because of the size of the senior class. This year, the selection process was different. Head Coach Micaela Donatello and Assistant Coach Randall Harper saw the selection process was inefficient for this group and decided to change it.

“This year we only have two seniors, so it was natural to choose those two seniors as captains,” Donatello said. “Since there were 16 seniors last year, the girls on the team voted for who they wanted to be captain, but this year, I just don’t think that was necessary. Us as coaches felt the two seniors were the perfect fit.”

White and Kraft have drawn from their experience cheering on varsity to guide the team through the beginning of their new season. Kraft decided to take her role to heart, focusing on leading the team through how she acts on a daily basis.

“This year, I’m trying to be an example,” Kraft said. “I really want to leave a legacy, because we had 16 seniors last year, and that’s a huge shoe to fill. I knew that me and Isabella could do it, but it would be a lot harder [with only two seniors].”

The members of the MHS Varsity Sideline Cheer Team want to leave an impression on the program, and they have big – and in their case, many – shoes to fill. This year, the sideline football team will be going for their eighth Greater Miami Conference (GMC) championship win in a row – known as an “eight-peat” by the team.

“Definitely [winning] the eight-peat [is a goal of ours] because we’ve won for so many years, but [another goal is] just becoming all around good cheerleaders,” Kraft said.

Donatello appreciates the team’s effort to improve in all aspects of cheerleading as well as becoming better people, and described Kraft and White as great role models who demonstrate excellence.

“It’s been really positive having two strong leaders to set us up for a good season,” Donatello said. “They have the experience of being on varsity already. They know how everything works. They’re really good leaders to the underclassmen, and they lead by example.”

With only two seniors on the squad, the team this year has more sophomores and juniors than the years prior. A younger team comes with its own set of strengths and challenges. Donatello as well as Kraft and White find value in varsity experience and are taking steps to help new members prepare for their first season of Friday night lights.

“We’ve had to do little dress rehearsals to get them ready, because we only have a handful of girls who have had that experience of being at Friday nights, and the rest of them are like, ‘I don’t know where to go or when’,” Donatello said. “It’s definitely been an adjustment trying to get everyone on the same page and get those nerves out for the first home game.”

Kraft has a different strategy to prepare newer members of the team for the different experiences of cheering on the sideline of a varsity football game. On August 22, the day before the first varsity football game against Gahanna Lincoln, Kraft explained to the underclassmen what a typical game day looks like to help them get ready for the new environment.

“I try to just lay it out for them,” Kraft said. “The Thursday before the game, I took a bunch of the sophomores to the field and walked them through the whole entire game day experience.”

White finds the more questions she can answer for the underclassmen on the squad, the less nervous they seem to be about the new experience. She also offers them guidance in a way only an upperclassmen can.

“I’ve been asking them all questions like, ‘What are you worried about the most?’ so I could tell them that it’s really not that bad,” White said. “Since they’re younger, they’re going through things that I’ve already been through. Being able to listen and put my two cents in and help them through situations that I’ve been through already [is valuable].”

For both White and Kraft, the experience of being on varsity last year affects how they lead. For Kraft, it’s given her experience that makes her feel qualified for the role.

“I feel like if I wasn’t on varsity last year, I wouldn’t feel deserving of captain this year, because I go off of all my experience,” Kraft said. “Even if [my experience] was on JV, varsity is a completely different feeling. It definitely makes me a better captain knowing that I was on varsity last year and I know what I’m talking about.”

Even with such a different leadership dynamic, Donatello thinks the team has made the adjustment smoothly this year and gone into the season with a great attitude.

“They’ve really adjusted well and taken on this new season with so much determination,” Donatello said. “I’ve seen them really work hard because they all want to prove themselves. Just because they’re a younger team doesn’t mean that they’re less talented.”

Donatello described the 24-25 squad as being coachable, adaptable, driven and fun to challenge. She also recognizes the team’s willingness to try new things.

“They don’t feel like ‘I already know how to do things’ – they’re willing to take on any challenge that I give them,” Donatello said. “If I give them a crazy idea and I’m like ‘Try it and let me know how it goes’, it normally turns out well.”

White, although she is one of two seniors on the team and has the most experience, sees traits in her younger teammates that she admires.

“They definitely have been eager to learn and to change,” White said. “That’s something I look up to. We’ll be at practice and Coach Michaela will want to try to learn something new. They won’t groan about it, they won’t [say], ‘Oh, another cheer.’ They’re so ready to learn, and it’s inspiring to see.”

As the squad takes on games in front of the community, the coaches and more experienced members have been working to instill confidence in the younger members of the team.

“They’re putting an immense amount of pressure on themselves to perform and to be amazing,” Donatello said. “But they can’t always see that themselves. We’re trying to build up that confidence, so when they get out in front of people on game day, they look confident and proud.”

Kraft also emphasizes the work that goes into cheerleading and the athleticism required. Achieving the goal of becoming all around better cheerleaders means upholding a reputation of being strong athletes.

“We are athletes, no matter what,” Kraft said. “Coach Donatello really wants us to have a good reputation for being good athletes. We don’t want to just be, ‘those cheerleaders’. We’re not just cheering, we’re not just yelling ‘Go Comets’ – we’re actually getting work done. We work out. We practice just as much as other sports do.”

Kraft appreciates the new team’s energy going into the season: one of determination, positivity, and excitement for what is to come, even despite the change in dynamic and experience on the squad.

“I just love the energy that all the girls have,” Kraft said. “We get our things done, but we’re very goofy, and it’s just a good family.”