Varsity Cheer Squad Performs at Wizards Game

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The RHS varsity cheer squad performed at the halftime show of the Washington Wizards vs. Toronto Raptors game Jan. 8 at the Verizon Center. RHS cheered alongside other squads from D.C., Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania.
“It was time-consuming, but all the coaches were great to work with so it all came together very well,” Director of Cheerleaders of America Vicki Pfeiffer said.
Pfeiffer was responsible for coordinating the cheerleaders’ performance at the halftime show. This was the first time that they have had high school squads perform at a Wizards game, but for the last 10 years, Cheerleaders of America has performed a halftime extravaganza at U.S. Naval Academy football games. According to Pfeiffer, the show went as planned and the Wizards have already extended an invitation for the squads to perform again next year.
RHSa�� squad was invited to perform at the U.S. Naval Academy football game this year, but had to decline because there was too much going on during the fall season. However, they were excited to perform at the Wizards game and quickly learned the routine from a video that Pfeiffer sent all the teams.
“I don’t think that it was any more difficult than any other routine we’ve learned. I think that just the coordination of doing it with 300 other cheerleaders was the challenging part. That probably was the only real difference,” varsity cheerleading coach Julie James said.
James was disappointed that the cheer squads did not get a chance to interact much with the Wizards cheerleaders, but otherwise thought that the teams all seemed to know the routine and work well together.
One thing that the squad experienced during this season and at the halftime show was more stunting. Captain Anna Rives is looking forward to learning new stunts and tumbling passes for upcoming seasons. Along with the expansion of the cheer program, James said that there is a possibility of having a varsity and JV squad in the near future.
“Our squad has really become a lot larger over time. And our team has gotten so much stronger since last year. We are louder, stronger and closer then ever,” Rives said.
Cheering at the halftime show helped the squad see what it was like to perform with many people and other squads outside of school.
“They got to see that if you really love the sport of cheerleading, not only can you pursue this in college, but there are also teams that you can go to,” James said.