FHC’s varsity competitive cheer team competed for their very first time all together Saturday. FHC has not had their own team since the 90s. In years past, the team has been combined with Forest Hills Northern and Forest Hills Eastern. The cheer competition was held at Comstock Parks high school and contained 24 teams, 12 of them in FHC’s division. The team placed 7th with a total score of 629.42.

Competitive cheer consists of three rounds. In round one, the judges are looking for motions and jumps. Round two is about tumbling and jumps. Round three consists of just stunting and tumbling.

Round one was a success for FHC. Although a few motions were not hit to their full extent and jump timing was difficult, the round looked good. The judges commented on FHC’s ending of round one and loved it.

For round two every first 10 motions are the exact same for every team. Most people would not pick that up because they are put to different words in a song. If a team misses even one motion of the first ten it is a penalty, resulting in a lower score. The FHC girls stuck all their tumbling, but points were taken off due to legs not being straighten. Timing was also a struggle for the girls and the motions were not as tight as they could have been. In upcoming practice the girls will be spending time changing and improving this round.

Round three is the most difficult round for most teams. This round consists of all stunting, which is difficult to keep timing all together. Although their voices were good; stunts fell. As long as the flyer does not touch the ground then the deductions are not as large. Lucky for FHC, their stunts did not hit the ground. The girls have some things to improve on in their upcoming practices.

“Our routine was not perfect, but CCCAM is a struggle for every team because it is so early in the season,” said Coach Oliva Obetts. “I’m happy to have our first competition jitters behind us, and I look forward to a successful first year. There’s nowhere to go but up!”