Sparkle Cheer Shines on the Sidelines

The Sparkle Cheer program gives students with intellectual and physical disabilities at Northwest High School the opportunity to cheer at varsity football games. 

The students are paired with varsity cheerleaders to learn cheers and practice for upcoming games. The sparkle cheerleaders then can come onto the track during the second quarter to do the cheers they learn during practices. The sparkle cheerleaders enjoy working with the varsity cheerleaders and being able to cheer at games. 

Courtney Reed, sparkle cheer coach, said, “The students get very excited to participate in Sparkle. A lot of times it is one of the only things they are involved in, so they are very happy to get to participate.” 

The program not only benefits the sparkle cheerleaders but the varsity athletes as well. 

“It makes me happy to be able to see them happy,” said Hannah Mangan, varsity cheerleader. Being able to make an impact on the kids gives the cheerleaders a sense of pride in doing something good for their community. 

When the sparkle cheerleaders can come into the game during 2nd quarter, some have observed that the student section is not involved. 

Kenzie Wormsley, varsity cheerleader, said “[The student section is not] as engaged as they are with the normal cheerleaders.” This can be disappointing for both cheer groups as they spend time practicing for these games, only for the student section to be distracted. The student section is very important to the cheerleaders and drives the spirit of the game. 

Wormsley continued, “They only get 10 minutes so [the student section] can just spend 10 minutes like being really excited with them.” The limited amount of time paired with student section disengagement has caused the sparkle cheerleaders to be cast aside. 

The excitement of the crowd greatly plays into the cheerleader’s job and when they are not excited that job is very difficult to do. The 10 minutes the sparkle cheerleaders can spend on the field are short and they should get the most out of it.