Amidst the hustle of summer and the buzzing excitement for the release from another year of high school, students are itching to be free of all their yearlong commitments.
But for junior Maya Morgan, who is already starting her third season on the Shorewood Cheer team, the work for the upcoming school year has only just begun.
While most sports offer optional summer opportunities to expand on athletes’ skills, many performance teams at Shorewood begin their season quite immediately, which Morgan, spending her final year on the cheer squad, is all too familiar with and excited for.
The Shorewood Cheer Team has a tight schedule that sets its members up in great shape for football and the later competition season, having already begun twice-weekly practices in preparation for further opportunities, like the team’s tradition of attending National Cheerleader’s Association (NCA) Cheer Camp in June.
Shorewood cheerleaders spend four days learning different routines each day, as well as being given extensive opportunities to work with NCA cheer members and to practice stunts, honing their skills for their upcoming season and learning important leadership values.
Continuing into the later summer season, cheerleaders face head-on commitments, embracing their motto of “all in” as they race towards football season, with practices twice a day leading up to the beginning of the school year.
Although the daunting two-a-day practices may seem scary to some, Morgan embraces them, like many other cheerleaders, purely for the love of the game. “Even though it does sound like a big commitment, I find that it makes us feel so ready for football, and when it’s your first time out there, it doesn’t even feel like it, because you’ve been cheering in that exact spot that you’re gonna be cheering at football games,” said Morgan.
Similarly, the Shorewood Drill team expands its preparation for the upcoming season with high regard, following through with summer practices from Mondays through Thursday mornings.
“They are very tiring, but they’re also very fun,” sophomore Elise Timms said. Timms has been a member of the Drill team for two years, currently serving as a lieutenant for the 2025-2026 season, as well as a captain for her upcoming junior season.
Drill too works tirelessly in preparation for their upcoming season, beginning prep work for their competition and football routines months in advance. “We learn football routines at the beginning of the summer, and towards the end we start learning our competition season dances,” Timms said.
But regardless of the undeniable hard work, Drill’s summer commitments offer more than just an opportunity to enhance team skills; they build a community. “All the friends you make along the way, and the strength and the skills you build up through the summer, make it worth it,” said Timms.
