This year’s winter cheer season began with the fear of barely having enough members to make a significant impact. Instead, as a result of their dedication, they have grown to new heights and overcome numerous obstacles.

According to senior Alexa Dell, captain and team coach, the team has expanded from six members to 15.

Some of the team members who have attended other schools contribute cheers or dances they learned from their previous teams.

“We stem responsibilities from there,” Dell said. “It’s more of a group effort. We change them around and make them suitable for us.”

The team not only does classic cheers, but they have also gained some stomping cheers to rev up the crowd and the basketball team. Stomping cheers generally involve stomping on the ground and clapping in order to better engage the crowd.

“Their signature this year is the stomp cheers,” Ms. Sharon Lathum said, the Executive Assistant to Athletics and cheer sponsor.

“Even the guys who aren’t really into the cheer stuff, can be caught sometimes singing along with the cheers,” sophomore Noah Pope said, starter on the varsity boys basketball team. “I feel like sometimes they come to watch the cheer team instead of our game because they have heard about how much the cheer team has improved.”

Before home games, the cheer team goes into the weight room and gets pumped up for their upcoming game. They review some of the more difficult cheers, pray together, listen to music and sometimes chant with each other to spread the excitement.

“We definitely get pumped up when they do, and we get sad when they do,” Dell said on the basketball team. The cheer team strives to be as involved as possible during each game in order to keep the crowd and team’s spirits up, even when the team loses.

The team’s goal is to enhance school spirit and attendance at basketball games and, according to many, they appear to be succeeding. Parents, including those from other schools, often comment on how well they are doing this season.

“When a lot of fans don’t come, you know that they’re still the fans that are always gonna be there,” Pope said.

Apparently, the feeling is mutual. After the St. George’s boys’ basketball team beat USJ 62-61, the team tweeted from their twitter, @sgiswc, with, “You can’t fathom how much we love our team.”