PROVINCETOWN — It’s T-minus-one day until the first-ever halftime show for seven cheerleaders at practice on Feb. 15. Fifth-grade energy abounds, and arms punch high. Then the cardboard parcel of black-and-white pom-poms appears, and the cheers begin, one after another, with hardly a breath in-between.
cheerleading
GAME DAY
Nauset Cheers On Through a Short Season
A 2009 NRHS graduate returns as a coach
EASTHAM — Cheerleading helped Lara Rouillard fulfill a dream — it brought her back to Nauset Regional High School.
Rouillard graduated from Nauset in 2009 — back then, she was Lara Magalhaes and was captain of the cheerleading team. She’s originally from Brazil, where, she says, the sport is not nearly as popular as it is in the United States.
“Brazil is about 40 years behind the U.S. in cheerleading,” she says. “We’re really just starting at the collegiate level.”
Rouillard earned a business degree after high school and went back to Brazil, bringing her love of cheerleading with her. Today, she serves as president of the Brazilian Confederation of Cheerleading and Dance (CBCD), a private nonprofit association working to advance the sport there.
Last year, Rouillard returned to the Cape to visit and reconnected with someone she used to cheer on at Nauset.
“When I was at Nauset, I was a cheerleader and he was a football and basketball player,” she says.
She married Jon Rouillard soon thereafter, and while still holding her position with the CBCD, looked into a return to Nauset’s cheerleading program. She became coach of the team this season.
“I’m really thankful to our athletic director and principal for the opportunity,” she says. “The girls pulled it together this season. They were true warriors.”
The athletes appreciate her devotion to the sport. “We’ve gone through two other coaches during my four years,” senior cheer captain Karla Streett says, “but Coach Lara has been the coach that has truly dedicated her time to the team. She helped us grow as both athletes and people.”
The team, made up of eight girls, six of whom are seniors, finished fifth among 13 competing teams at the Game Day State Championship in early March last year, just before the pandemic hit.
This year, the season was short, with football season moved to the spring and winter cheer during basketball games canceled. Nauset did not participate in the invitationals it normally would have, and only some league and state-sanctioned competitions were held — virtually.
Nauset was finally able to take the field during the football team’s two home games this season.
Streett, who lives in Brewster, said in her previous three years, the team focused on All Star cheer, which involves stunts. During most stunts, teammates form pyramids and hoist one cheerleader at a time into the air. Airborn squad members then perform acrobatic flips before landing in the arms of their teammates.
But this year, due to Covid-19 protocols, the team focused on Game Day cheer, a version of cheerleading that focuses on leading the crowd. Though Game Day cheering does involve a fair amount of running, jumping, and flipping, it does not include team stunts.
“With Covid, we haven’t really been able to do a lot of stunts like we used to do,” Streett says. “We went to just spacing out and doing more dance and flip routines on our own.”
Even though the cheerleaders focused on their individual skills, they still formed a close bond.
“I learned the most this season,” Streett says. “This cheer team at Nauset is a family,” she adds.
The Cape and Islands League, which Nauset is a part of, did not have a sanctioned cheer competition this season, but Nauset was able to enter one virtual competition hosted by the All-Star Cheer Consultants. The team recorded its showcase performance and sent it in.
Nauset placed first in the non-building (no stunts) division. The team placed 27th out of 60 teams across all divisions.
The team held a live showcase at the high school gymnasium on April 15, where cheerleaders got to perform their routines for parents and students for the first time this season.
“It was nice to have everyone come to a place to see how far we’ve come,” Streett says. “Some of the football players came and showed support. We’re really proud.”
Rouillard is hoping to start a recreational cheer clinic this summer where a few of the graduating seniors, including Streett, can teach middle school students the sport. Streett said she hopes the clinic will encourage younger boys and girls to try cheerleading.
“It’s scary for freshmen to come in and try a new sport they’ve never done before,” she says. She grew up learning gymnastics and was introduced to cheerleading by her older sister.
Streett says she will be attending Cape Cod Community College next year. Her plan is to help Coach Lara at practices and continue to build the program.
GIMME A ‘W’
Season Updates
Warriors Watch
Thursday, April 15
Boys and girls indoor track: Both teams will travel to compete in a meet against Barnstable at 4 p.m.
Cheerleading: The Warriors cheerleading squad will host its first showcase of the year beginning at 7 p.m.
Saturday, April 19
Football: The Warriors will look to capture their first win of the season at home against the Falmouth Clippers at 12 p.m.
Host a Cape League Player
The Cape Cod Baseball League is planning to resume play in the summer of 2021. The league had to cancel its season last year for the first time since 1945 due to Covid-19.
The league needs Cape Cod residents to volunteer as host families for college ballplayers this summer. Anyone wanting to learn more about the host family experience should email CCBL Commissioner Eric Zmuda at [email protected] to ask questions or sign up for an information session. —Ryan Fitzgerald
NO CONTACT
Fall Sports to Play in Two Seasons
Football, cheerleading, and volleyball competition is pushed to February
EASTHAM — Nauset fall sports will be a completely different game this year.
The Cape & Islands League Executive Board voted last week to allow boys golf, cross country, boys soccer, girls soccer, and field hockey to compete in the Fall I season, which will take place from Sept. 21 to Nov. 20.
The board also voted to move football, cheerleading, and volleyball competition to the “Fall II” season, beginning on Feb. 22 and continuing through April 25.
On Aug. 19, the Mass. Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) presented its modified high school sports season for 2020-21 that includes the two separate fall seasons.
“The recommendations before us may not meet everyone’s expectations, but they provide a real opportunity for our students to take part in high school athletics for the first time in months,” MIAA President Jeff Granatino said in a statement.
The hope is that, by pushing football, cheerleading, and volleyball to the second fall season, competition in those close contact sports will be possible when February rolls around. And although soccer, golf, field hockey, and cross country will be played this fall, there will be some unusual limitations.
The state Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) released safety protocols for sports in July, which ranked sports in categories of “low,” “moderate,” or “high” risk. The category determines which of four levels of practice or play teams can look forward to.
Level 1 includes individual or socially distanced group activities (no-contact workouts, aerobic conditioning, individual skill work, drills). Level 2 includes competitive practices (intra-team or group games, contact drills, and scrimmages). Level 3 includes competitions (inter-team games, meets, matches, races, etc.). Level 4 includes outdoor tournaments.
Cross country and golf are “low risk” sports and can compete in all levels of play, while soccer and field hockey are “moderate risk” sports and eligible for Level 3 play, as long as certain modifications can be enforced.
Players will have to adapt to these new rules. Cross-country runners will have staggered starts. In soccer, eliminating throw-ins, headers, and physical contact completely changes the game. Field hockey will not allow physical contact among players either, which is a normal part of the game. All players will be required to wear masks.
Nauset Athletic Director John Mattson released information specific to Nauset Regional High School on Twitter last week.
Even though Nauset football is scheduled for the Fall II season, the team will still participate in practice sessions, beginning Sept. 28 for two or three days a week, which can include only individual or socially distanced group activities. Cheerleading and volleyball will not attempt practice sessions until the Fall II season.
Most teams will play 8 to 10 games, and each sport will have a league tournament at the end of the regular season, according to Mattson. Practice schedules and transportation guidelines are still being finalized. A virtual parent and athlete preseason meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 15, at 7 p.m.
Mattson said in a statement that the health and safety of student athletes was the top priority. He added that “despite the glaring sport modifications, shortened season, and other challenges, we are excited to offer a fall sports program at Nauset Regional High School.”
BLADE RUNNERS
Nauset Skaters Place First Overall in New England
Local club triumphs in its first season
EASTHAM — In just its first year of competition, the Nauset Figure Skating Club came in first overall in the New England series of U.S. Figure Skating high school competitions.
The series, hosted by the New England InterClub Council, consists of three skating competitions throughout the region. The Nauset team was “shocked” when it finished first at its inaugural Harvestfest competition on Oct. 6 in Dover, N.H.
The team finished second at the Thanksgiving Classic competition on Nov. 9 in Falmouth, Maine, and capped off the series by coming in first at the Challenge Cup on March 7 at Charles Moore Arena in Orleans.
“It has been a great season for these skaters,” Coach Tamsyn Shaw said. “This figure skating series has really given them a focus for their weekly individual and group skating lessons. They had fun and were successful. What more could we ask for?”
Thirteen teams competed on March 7; Nauset finished first with 52 points. The club scored a total of 117 points in the series to come out on top. Shaw said the top three teams were awarded crystal trophies.
Seven Nauset skaters competed in individual and team maneuver competitions at different levels on March 7. There are 10 levels in high school figure skating, from beginner to senior. Skaters can participate based on their level of skill in three events: excel free skate, team maneuvers, and a showcase.
The skaters were Delaney Shaw, Alexa Hoffman, Hailey Philbrick, Haley Tortora, Grace Murphy, Ella Raye, and Isabella Valentino.
Shaw finished second in the excel senior free skate and first in the high-level showcase. Hoffman placed first in the junior free skate and seventh in the high-level showcase. Hoffman and Shaw together came in first in the high-level duet.
Tortora finished second in the excel juvenile free skate and first in the intermediate level showcase while Murphy also took first in the excel intermediate free skate.
Raye placed sixth in the excel intermediate free skate and third in the intermediate showcase. Philbrick came in second in the excel preliminary free skate, and Valentino placed third in the intermediate showcase.
Valentino and Murphy placed third and Raye and Philbrick placed second in the intermediate level duet.
Shaw, Murphy, and Valentino took second place in the Level A team maneuvers, while Raye, Hoffman, and Tortora placed second in the Level B team maneuvers.
Nauset Figure Skating is technically the Lower Cape Figure Skating Club, with Cape-wide participation, but Shaw said she hopes that next year figure skating will become a certified team sport at NRHS. The club’s early success could make that an easier proposition.
WARRIORS WATCH
Cheerleaders Take 2nd at Game Day
Thursday, Feb. 27
Co-ed cheerleading: The Warriors will compete in the Blackhawk Invitational at Bellingham High School at 5:30 p.m.
The team placed second at the Game Day Cheer at the David Prouty Invitational on Feb. 23.
“The team had a great performance and earned high praise for their stunts and choreography,” said Head Coach Jennie Suydam.
Saturday, Feb. 29
Co-ed cheerleading: The Warriors continue in competition at the Wildcat Invitational at Wilmington High School at 12 noon.
WARRIORS WATCH
Football Team Falls in Semi-Finals
A weekly wrap-up of Nauset High sports
Note: Team records are listed as of the Independent’s deadline.
Thursday, Nov. 14
Boys soccer: The Warriors (18-0-2) will play the Oliver Ames Tigers (15-3-0) in a Division 2 South Sectional semi-final game at 7 p.m. at Sandwich High School. The winner will earn a spot in the championship.
Nauset defeated Duxbury 3-1 in the quarterfinals.
Saturday, Nov. 16
Football: The Warriors (6-3) will play an away game against the Silver Lake Lakers at 5 p.m. Nauset lost 35-14 to the Plymouth South Panthers in the Division 4 South Sectional semi-finals on Nov. 8, which knocked the team out of playoff contention.
While the Warriors will no longer compete in the playoffs, they will play against the Lakers in their last game of the regular season before the annual Thanksgiving game.
Cross country: The boys and girls teams will compete in the All-State meet at the Gardner Municipal Golf Course at a time to be determined.
Sunday, Nov. 17
Cheerleading: The Warriors will compete in the state championships at Shrewsbury High School at a time to be determined.