When you gather 13 cheerleading squads together from the Dallas area and the backdrop is the Great Wolf Lodge in Grapevine, you have entered the world of UCA Entertainment, Spirit and Fun. There is no way around it. Italy High School sent their cheerleading squad and mascots in June to learn a few new tricks about turning up the volume for spirit and they excelled every day they attended.

The girls learned games, cheers, chants, dances and stunt ideas. According to Catherine Hewett, sponsor for the high school squad, “It was a great learning experience for the girls and they had a lot of fun!”

The group began camp with a wonderful icebreaker game. It included finding your twin bead holder. Each girl was given a different colored bead to place on their shoelace. Throughout the day, they were to look for the girl that had the same bead on her shoelace. That was a great way to get to know the other schools and squads.

After the first day, the girls were judged on one or two aspects of their spirit abilities. IHS cheerleaders won a spirit award every day of camp. The girls were judged on how well they stayed together and how well they responded. At the end of camp, the IHS cheerleading squad won the 1st place trophy for their sideline cheer and small varsity overall. Mascot, Noeli Garcia, 8th grader, won most improved mascot.

Sophomore, Kristian Weeks, said, “I have never laughed that much going to camp. We had no drama and we became a little closer. We learned trust and are 1 team together.” Of course, seeing other high schools perform, our cheerleaders decided they needed yell leaders on their squad.

Italy HIgh School will begin at the end of August and together these girls are excited about the upcoming year, “We already have started the home game pep rally ideas. We will have movie themes throughout the football season,” said Taylor Turner, senior captain.