Leading The Herd
By HUDSON WYATT
Tower News
The two who lead the Manteca High cheer team under the lights on Thursday and Friday evenings in the fall, the two who get the crowd pumped up for the games are captains Jayleen Ruiz and Monica Aguilar. Aguilar is a senior and has been cheering for all four years at Manteca High. Ruiz is also a senior who has been cheering for the last two years. In their senior seasons, Aguilar and Ruiz lead from the front.
Manteca High seniors Jayleen Ruiz and Monica Aguilar are captains of the varsity cheer squad, a role that blends choreography with leadership and coaching.
"Being a varsity cheer captain means having leadership for your team and being hard on the girls even though you don't want to," Ruiz said
Being the captain comes with a lot of responsibility, especially when it comes to choreography. You need to know all the moves, formations, and chants, as well as where every cheerleader must go and when.
"A captain's responsibility is to make dances, making formations and calling out cheers," Aguilar said.
There are a lot of people who stereotype cheer, but they do not know the effort and time invested into the activity. Traditional and competitive cheerleading was recognized as a sport by the California Interscholastic Federation’s Sac-Joaquin Section in 2017. Though sideline cheer isn’t recognized as a sport by the CIF, Ruiz understands the effort, dedication and athleticism parallels recognized sports.
"I think it's kind of hard for one person to try to break it, but anytime anyone mentions to me that cheer isn't a sport, I question them like, ‘Why isn't it a sport?’ At the end of the day, it's kind of just addressing the issue," Ruiz said.
Being on the cheer team includes pumping up the crowd and football (fall) and basketball (winter) teams. You must bring a lot of excitement and enthusiasm, even when your team is trailing on the scoreboard. It’s in those moments of desperation that cheerleaders become vital players in the game, Ruiz said.
"I love it when our team is losing a little bit, and the whole crowd is yelling and cheering on the boys,” she added. “They get the points we need, and it is a thrilling feeling. It's amazing to be able to do this experience with my girls.
“Being able to be with my girls on the sideline and halftime means so much to me. I love going to The Herd cheering to pump them up."
