The Roswell Varsity cheer team has had yet another successful season. These lady hornets placed seventh at the state competition, held Nov. 11. The girls were not able to make it this far on their own, not only their incredible coaching, but two senior cheerleaders really showed their leadership and hard work in leading this team. Seniors Brinley Dye and Caroline Jenacova were the two cheerleaders who were named the 2023 cheer captains and very much lived up to their title.
For seniors, three long years of cheering for the school leads to the opportunity of this role. Jenacova said, “Throughout my time in the program, I watched previous captains do this and wanted my chance so bad! So, finally being able to lead the cheers is super exciting.”
In this role, as cheer captain, a person must demonstrate leadership, provide help, assist with checks on routines, and always support others on the team. In Dye’s experience, her 13 years of cheering proves her determination to the sport, she said, “I got this role by working hard and being a positive leader on my team.”
Dye said, “As a captain, in addition to daily tasks like leading cheers or practices, I also try to be there to support every member of our team!” To do this she is constantly reaching out and asking who needs help. In general, she looks out for the others, asking about their day, Dye said, “Checking up on them is very important to me!”
However, during the beginning of the season, Dye had a torn quad and explained that this was a struggle to be able to connect with the team and leading practices. As she could not practice along with them or demonstrate.
Following the common jobs of cheer captain, similarly to Dye, Jenacova said, “I do my best to set a strong and positive example for the team in terms of attitude, work ethic, and commitment. One of our team values this season is 110% effort and my goal is to ensure everyone involved is representing that value, inside and outside of cheerleading.”
Jenacova loves the fact of being a mentor to younger cheerleaders and helping them to grow and improve not only athletes, but people. A mentor shares
their own experiences and struggles in order to provide insight to help better others in similar experiences. Patience, passion and enthusiasm are very necessary skills in helping others to improve. A deep connection is made between mentors and the “student” but also in working together.
Dye and Jenacova are co-captains. Their responsibilities are done together, and one is never more important than the other, it’s a whole team. Dye said, “The most fun thing about being a captain is getting to plan fun surprises and brainstorming ideas with my co-captain, Caroline!”
They have done excellent jobs at taking on this role as cheer captains and can be seen each Friday at football games, helping lead the cheers and getting the crowd excited.
