By Tatum James
Staff writer
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In the chaos of football game days, whether it’s the tailgate and pregame, the game itself, or by the time the final whistle sounds, the cheerleaders are the heartbeat of the game.
“I think cheerleaders bring full game day energy – for the games that may be uneventful, like the 99-0 win, it gives (the fans) something else to prioritize and something else to watch,” Blue Dragon Spirit Squad coach Sami Cox said.
Football game days are the longest games for everyone, but especially the cheerleaders. The cheerleaders have to mentally and physically prepare themselves for the six-and-a-half hour game day ahead of them.
“The night before, I get as much rest as I can – I drink lots of water and eat good, the night before and the morning of – I feel like when I hype myself up, I hype other people up and make sure we’re all mentally there – then I’m ready for a good game day,” Blue Dragon Spirit Squad Co-Captain Zachary Fulenwider.
As football is just a portion of the Spirit Squads nine-month season, they have to think about what else is present and will be coming up soon in their season.
“My main goal is to be successful, but I ultimately just want everybody to have a great mindset,” Cox said. “I try to alleviate any athlete burnout/injury situations because we go all year long. So I try to set a competitive, but also fun environment that way when people are coming in, they’re still doing what they want to do, they’re still achieving new goals, they’re still achieving new skills, on top of having a good experience.”
Fulenwider is a second-year member of the Blue Dragon Spirit Squad. For this season, he was honored to be a Co-Captain over the squad.
“I get to show leadership and show who I am as an athlete – I can let other people know it’s okay to express the same way that I am that y’all can be as well. I feel like I can definitely be a shoulder for all the rookies (first years on the team) coming in, let them know they have a space to go to and they have someone to talk to,” Fulenwider said. “I get to lead the team and also allow everybody just to be themselves, but also make sure they know there’s ground rules that are there to keep us safe.”
