A new addition to Green Hope Athletics this 2024-25 school year, the stunt team has just begun its first season of many to come. The sport is rapidly growing in popularity and focuses on the technical skills of cheerleading, including pyramids, jumps, and tumbling. It is composed of four separate quarters, each with its own individualized focus to prepare athletes for competition. The GH Falcon recently sat down with one of the team captains, Harris Seifert, for insight into the team’s progression.
As mentioned earlier, stunt is composed of four quarters. The first quarter is partner stunts, the second quarter is pyramid, the third quarter is jumps and tumbling and the fourth quarter is everything combined together. In each quarter, there are four rounds. “Certain rounds are certain levels that each team gets to call.” Seifert shared. The sport employs a variety of intensities for each given routine. “You go from [level] one to six, and you can forfeit it or you keep going.” Each team is given the exact same routine to complete and perform.
If a team decides it would like to forfeit a match, they do not receive a point, but if they complete the routine, they are scored among the other teams to see who does it best. “You’re standing side by side with each team, and then they see who does it the cleanest or who makes it look just like the video that we get sent at the beginning of the year,” she shared.
At the beginning of every season, teams are sent 24 videos of routines they must memorize, with six being performed each quarter. If a team ties, they both receive a point. The goal is to earn more points than the other teams, but the mercy rule does exist.
As for match days, the team competes once a week against two other teams with a five-minute halftime. The team participates in various bonding activities before the games begin. “Because of the new transportation forms. We don’t have to take the bus anymore, so typically some girls will get together and get ready,” Seifert shared. After arriving at the match, the team’s schedule determines the following steps. Even if they do not compete first, they will typically get there early to watch the others compete.
Given the complexity of the sport, the GH Stunt Team meets every day to practice. Although practice times differ, the material often stays the same. “Typically, it’s a 230 to 4:30 practice,” she shared. Often consisting of workouts, stunts and routine work, the practices are crucial to ensuring the team is well prepared and movements are clean for competition.
Each routine consists of multiple positions, with each position fulfilling individual requirements. Members have a specific position in partner stunts, typically their stunting position. These positions include bases, flyers and backspots. As for jumps and tumbling, the lineup is decided based on individual skill level.
Despite being in its first-ever season, Seifert has already discovered some of her favorite aspects of the sport. The regular cheerleading season at Green Hope has a hair requirement, prohibiting athletes from doing anything but a low ponytail. As for stunt, there are no regulations. “I love doing hair, so [I like] being able to express what I want to do with my hair,” she shared. Additionally, she enjoys the competitive style of stunt as it requires extreme precision and exact timing. “I like being really sharp, and it looks really clean, so I do like that everything has an exact moment.”
The team is currently wrapping up a successful first Stunt season, paving the way for future talented athletes at Green Hope and setting a strong foundation for future seasons.
