by Azhar Gonzalez
SAsports.com Cheer Columnist
Week of November 8, 2007

Valerie Canales is a Taft High School Varsity cheerleader. She has been cheering since she was in third grade and has wanted to cheer for as long as she can remember. She claims that being a cheerleader allows her the ability to stay in shape and gives her the discipline she needs. Her biggest accomplishment as a cheerleader is making the varsity squad for Taft. Her goals are the same as any other cheerleader; individually she would like to obtain “The Jacket” and for the team, she would like everyone to continue to cooperate with each other and to give their 100% in all that they do. When asked if she felt a certain amount of pressure placed on her shoulders because she was a cheerleader she replied yes. “People perceive cheerleaders to be dumb-founded and we have to watch our actions and make sure we don’t do anything that would prove them right about the stereotype. Our actions reflect on the squad, so whatever is done outside of cheerleading always gets back to the team and our coaches.” Valerie says she cannot stand the common stereotype of cheerleaders. She argues with people who say that cheerleaders are all ditzy and clueless by coming back with a rebuttal that in order to be a cheerleader good grades and behavior are expected, as well as required, to make a team.

According to Valerie, the toughest thing about being a cheerleader is making sure she can carry her own weight and do her part for the squad. Having a great amount of trust in her teammates during skills, such as stunts, is pretty tough.  Cheerleading isn’t something that you wake up one morning wanting to do. The essentials in being a cheerleader have to come naturally. Valerie claims that cheerleading does its part to get you physically strong, but the cheerleader must be mentally strong as well. A cheerleader with a negative attitude will not go very far as opposed to a cheerleader who thinks positively and is highly determined. Although it is possible to make a career based on one’s cheer history, Valerie can not see cheerleading in her future past high school. She loves cheerleading, but her focus in life is to become a veterinarian.

As of now, Taft High School is unsure of whether or not they will be attending the Spurs Cheer Competition, but if you happen to see them there keep your eyes out for Valerie Canales!

Annually in December, there is a San Antonio Spurs Cheerleading Competition held at the AT&T center. The trophies are given to third, second, and first place winners in each division. The two over-all winning squads of the competition get the privilege of performing their routing during half time. These two squads are chosen based on the highest scoring school squad and the highest scoring all-star squad. The next two runner-ups get to perform pre-game; these squads are chosen by the judges overall decision. All-star and high school cheer squads from all over San Antonio enter this competition in the hopes that they are able to represent their organization.  Being able to perform during halftime is a huge opportunity. This allows the squad to get massive recognition and it catches people’s interest in joining, but more importantly, it allows people who wouldn’t normally watch a routine or cheer performance to catch a glimpse of what the competitive cheer world is all about.  For San Antonio teams, this competition is one of the biggest showdowns there is. Aside of NCA Nationals, this competition is the biggest deal for locals. This competition determines who the best in the city is.

This year’s competition will be the 15th Annual Spurs Competition. It will be held at the AT&T center on Saturday, December 5, 2007. The game will be the San Antonio Spurs versus the Denver Nuggets. The competition will be limited to about the first 56 squads.


Azhar Gonzalez is our SAsports.com Cheerleading columnist for the 2007-2008 school year. Azhar has been in cheer since she was eight years old. She has been involved with the TCCA Stallions, San Antonio Jets, Holy Cross Knights, Alamo Cheer Sports, and currently with Cheerific’s International Coed Squad. Eash week she will give our readers a better understanding of the cheerleading world by interviewing cheerleaders from different schools and organizations, and posting up major competitions and information on different cheer teams.

Week 1 - HERE!