Cheerleading squad

While the Muskies routinely have cheered their way to NorWOSSA titles in the past, and placed well at several competitions in Winnipeg and Thunder Bay, this year’s program decided to expand to include a junior squad of seventh and eighth graders.
Under the direction of Melissa Hagen, a former all-American, and Melissa Gushulak, the four-year veterans of the senior squad are passing their experience on to younger girls in hopes they will continue cheerleading right through high school.
“In the long run, I would definitely say this is going to do nothing but help us,” Sharon Hagen, coach of the senior cheerleaders, said at last Thursday’s junior practice.
“We’ve never had this [junior] squad before but it should help the girls make the transition to the senior squad,” she added.
While Hagen admitted there are limitations to what the girls can perform at the junior level, she stressed the experience of practising certain stunts will help form a foundation when they move up.
“They’ve already come a long way. And before we used to have first-year girls with fourth-year girls [so] now we’ll have a better balance,” she noted.
Melissa Hagen and Gushulak both praised how well the younger girls have progressed so far in what is a constant learning environment. In fact, they are interested in perhaps taking the junior squad to out-of-town competitions.
“We’ve really watched them grow and they all have improved all around,” said Hagen, adding the squad practises strenuously each Thursday from 5-7 p.m.
“We’re teaching them to get better with their techniques, and to get them better in synch and working together,” she noted. “They are really coming together as a squad.”
“We kind of start them from the beginning and then we’ll move them to bigger stunts,” echoed Gushulak. “And as the season goes by, we’re starting to gain more confidence in them.”
The junior cheerleaders also have started to have more fun as they see the success they are having performing certain stunts and dances.
“It’s really a lot of fun because we meet a lot people,” said Shanna Calder, 12, in her first year of cheerleading. “I like the stunts and the dances which have a good beat and are fast.”