This summer, our Celtic cheerleaders took on the UCA cheer camp, for the eighth year. This year’s camp was hosted by the University of Central Florida. The girls spent three straight days practicing and learning new stunts and cheers. Hard work, focus, team bonding, and working together was what it took for our SJN cheer team to conquer the 2022 camp. I interviewed Coach Kathy Sanderson about our girls 2022-2023 cheerleading team.

All About This Year’s Team

The team this year is brand new and most have never cheered or stunted before. Out of the 29 members, 17 are brand new to our team. Our stunt camp this year has given us a better foundation for the start of the year. The captains this year are Marisa Tolu, Taylor Hamet, Sophia Castillo, and Maggie Voll. They all contribute to our team with different strengths. I look forward to seeing them lead and grow through the seasons. Given that our team is new, there is always that learning curve, but we are already starting some stunts and routines that I often do not get to until basketball season. We are all excited to see how this year goes.

A Look into Stunt Camp

The girls accomplished a lot this year at camp. We all had tons of fun and were exhausted. UCA is the cheer company that hosts our camps, and it was great to see UCF’s facility. We would start at six-thirty in the morning and would not end until eight-thirty at night. Camp is very intense and a lot of preparation goes into it. The theme for camp this year was “Friday Night Lights.” We were able to borrow the old football jerseys and helmets. The girls got to participate in activities, pep rallies, and contests.

I spoke to this year’s cheer captains, and asked them to take a look at their favorite thing about cheerleading! Here’s what they had to say.

Marisa Tolu: The best part about cheer is the team. At camp this summer we all worked together improving and bonding. We are like a family which makes practices and games fun and entertaining.

Taylor Hamet: My favorite thing about cheer is the Friday Night Lights, cheering on the boys and all of our traditions make all of the practices and time worth it!

Sophia Castillo: To me the best thing about doing cheer has to be the idea of each year getting a new little family of girls who work their butts off together to be the spirit of Neumann at football and basketball games.

Maggie Voll: If we can get through UCA cheer we can get through the rest of the year — it wasn’t about being the best, it was about being better than you were yesterday!

The girls have put a lot of sweat, teamwork and long nights into this year’s season. We can’t wait to see what they have in store for us on the field.

GO CELTICS!