One look at the Springwoods High School Cheerleading website and it's easy to see how they've earned their success. What seems to be their slogan is "there's nothing basic about our training". It brings to mind the movie Miracle, in which the coach tells the team, "we may not be the most talented team, but we will be the best conditioned team." As in the movie (if you haven't seen it, you should, it's great for any sports fan), this team has emerged victorious.

Before the season started, each cheerleader had to take part in the tryout process. As a candidate, they were required to demonstrate a toe-touch jump and another jump of their choice. They also performed a cheer, side-line chant, and a dance. This material was viewed by a panel of unaffiliated judges who scored each performance and helped in the selection process. Teacher recommendations were also taken into account.

Once the squad was selected, that's when the real work began. Team coach, Summer Johansen, immediately implemented a conditioning program that would set the tone. According to Coach Johansen, most of the people who participate in cheerleading at Springwoods have no prior experience. They do not have competitive cheerleading backgrounds and have usually not taken any kind of gymnastics class. Their season began during the summer, after spring tryouts, with a training camp provided by Universal Cheerleaders Association. This camp, one of the largest in the state, gave them a chance to start things off right by building team unity as well as valuable skills. It's evident by all the prestigious awards they earned, that their initial lack of experience had nothing to do with their results. This team won 3^rd in the nation at National Cheerleaders Association's National competition and won 1^st place at American Cheer Power's Texas Open and National competition, along with the high point award in the level 5 division.

It's no secret, that success like this doesn't come without a price. A rigorous practice schedule was involved in developing and perfecting their competition routine while still taking care of their school duties which include; cheering at games, organizing and performing at pep rallies, community service projects, and most importantly, maintaining their grades. In addition to their practices during the week, these young athletes had Saturday workouts from 9a.m.-12:00p.m. with occasional Sundays. They also practiced during their school breaks, taking only Thanksgiving and Christmas day off.

Before you go thinking that Coach Johansen is pushing too hard, you should know, this intense pace was driven by the team. As with most champions, these young ladies demanded excellence of themselves and excellence is most certainly what they achieved. Many congratulations to these fine young athletes on an exciting season.

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