By Drew Dargavell, WKTV Sports Intern
ken@wktv.org
Competitive Cheer, a growing sport in the state of Michigan, requires great stamina, physical strength, and athletic ability. And unlike some other states, the Michigan High School Athletic Association recognizes the female participants in Girls Competitive Cheer as athletes.
For those unfamiliar with competitive cheer, it consists of three rounds of competition. Each team is scored for each particular round and it’s requirements. The different rounds serve to highlight the strengths of a team in different aspects of cheer.
To get a more inside look into West Michigan cheer, WKTV caught up with cheer coaches from two local teams with different goals and outlooks. Chris Hudson coaches Division 1 East Kentwood, which not only won their conference last year, but also districts, regionals, and went to the state championships. Viktoria Lissner, from Division 3 Godwin Heights, coaches a team that finished last in their division last year but still has plenty of heart.
The common theme for both of these teams, however, is that cheer is more than just a sport to these athletes.
“Cheer for us is about the team bonding and being a part of something here at Godwin,” Lissner said to WKTV.
At Kentwood, they are in it to win it.
“For a lot of these girls, it’s the only sport that they do, they’ve been doing it since they were little kids and it means everything (to them),” Hudson said to WKTV.
This video story and all sports news segments are available on the WKTV YouTube channel. All featured games covered by WKTV’s sports coverage crew, as well as other community events covered, are available on-demand at wktvondemand.com .
For a complete schedule of all local high school sports action each week, any changes to the WKTV feature sports schedule, and feature stories on local sports, visit wktvjournal.org/sports .
