Since the end of the football season cheerleading has seen a dramatic change. The change is not a new coach or a new team to cheer for but rather the size of the cheerleading squad, which has doubled. The growth of the squad can be mainly attributed to the sophomore class, which bolsters the majority of the new members.
“The recent addition to the squad has made it the biggest it has been in a long time,” senior Melissa Kopp said.

Other people on the squad feel that the addition of people to the squad will only had more variety and skill to the squad. With the addition of skills comes the addition of another squad.
Due to the increase in members, the cheerleaders will now have both a junior varsity and varsity squad. With the addition of an additional squad cheerleaders will be at junior varsity basketball games.
“I am sure that the basketball players will be happy to have cheerleaders at more games,” sophomore Jocelyn Cooper said. “Everyone likes being supported.”

Although people seem to be thrilled about the increase in squad size, the question about what caused people to try out all of a sudden still remains.
“Some friends and I were talking one day and thought it would be fun to try cheerleading so we went out for the squad,” Cooper said.
With sophomores comprising the majority of new members, some members of the original squad are still unsure as to why people are joining now.
“I don’t know why so many girls decided to join since most of them are sophomores and could have tried out last year,” Kopp said. “I’m glad they decided to do it this year though because Clayton needs more cheerleaders and we finally have a great sized squad.”
The new squad size is hoping to gain more than just fan support at basketball games. The squad is hoping to gain the support of the school.
“With more people participating, the sport is growing and hopefully the support for the sport grows too,” Cooper said.
Regardless of the support the squad receives, the team is set to enjoy the season.
“I am having a lot of fun cheerleading,” Cooper said. “I really hope the season stays fun and exciting.”
Like newbies to the sport veterans like Kopp also feel that cheerleading is fun and rewarding.
In addition, everyone seems interested in how the season will unfold.
“It should be interesting with so many girls this season,” Kopp said.