Name: Maija Dickens

Grade: 12

Sport: Competitive Cheer

How long have you been cheering, and what is your stunting position?

“I have been cheering for five years, and I am a main base.”

Why do you cheer?

“I cheer because of the competitions. They are always challenging no matter how much we improve in the season, which is why I like this sport; there is always something to get better [at].”

Who inspired you to join competitive cheer?

“Grace Conn made me do sideline cheer with her in eighth grade, and now I love it.”

What is your favorite round in competitive cheer? 

“I like round two the best because only a select amount of people do this round. It has a mixture of skills, jumps, and motions. In my opinion, it’s one of the harder rounds because there aren’t that many girls on the mat, so you have to constantly scream to be loud enough.”

What three characteristics do you feel are most important for cheerleaders to possess? 

“Positivity, kindness, and determination. These three characteristics are very important to really any sport. On our team, if one person is in a bad mood, everyone else is affected. Competitive cheer is a sport where everyone has to count on everyone, so it gets tough when these qualities are lacking; however, I think that’s where our team is strongest because we keep each other in check.”

Talk a little about your time being a part of FHC competitive cheer, this year and previous years.

“This is the second year FHC has had their own competitive cheer team, and I have been grateful to be a part of both years. With starting anything new there is always going to be ups and downs, but I believe our struggles have brought us as individuals to become stronger in the sport as well as outside of the sport. It has been really cool to see the growth in the program and in the girls from last year to this year. I believe the program will continue to be successful if we have as hard of workers as we do this year.”