On August 1, Armuchee Middle School competition cheer team was officially in their 2023 season according to GHSA. The Armuchee Middle comp team is currently undefeated, winning their comps at Ringgold, Calhoun, Heritage and Sonoraville. This team, led by Head Coach LaSaunda Mullinax and Assistant Coach Hannah Bollinger, is focused on reclaiming their Region Champion title they earned last season. “This season, we are cleaning up the little things in our routine and increasing the difficulty in our elite stunts,” said Coach Mullinax. An elite stunt is when only three people, the backspot and bases, hold up a girl, the flyer, while performing tricks and pulling stretch skills. By hard work and dedication, these girls will stop at nothing to be able to call themselves back to back region champions.
Coach Mullinax has coached for three seasons and has seen these 6th graders grow into current 8th graders. “My favorite thing about cheer is watching the girls grow as athletes from the beginning of the season to the end,” said Coach Mullinax. Coach Mullinax pushes these girls into becoming the athletes she sees in them. Her goal is not just to create a good team or good cheerleaders but to create good people, as well. Lindey Mullinax, 8th grader, said, “Coach Mullinax teaches us to have good sportsmanship. Like at a competition, one team was yelling rude things to us and we wanted to yell back, but Coach Mullinax held us back and told us how if we did yell there would be consequences. But in the end, Coach Mullinax will have taught us how to be better people.”
Leading up to the region competition on October 28th, these cheerleaders are already facing obstacles. The AMS cheerleaders faced “Losing cheerleaders to injuries” 8th grader Jenna Taylor said “The left side of the pyramid wasn’t hitting, a lot, and now it’s gotten a lot better. They’ve made a lot of progress.” A pyramid is an elite skill where they perform similar, if not harder, skills while the flyers, girls in the air, are connected by hands. In a 2 minute and 30 second routine, the cheerleaders perform many elite skills like tumbling and stunts. Aubrey Edwards, 8th grader, said, “My favorite tumbling skill is a round-off tuck on the trampoline because I can just ‘yeet’ myself” she then explained, “I fly like 6 feet in the air and just flip myself over.” Tumbling is a key aspect of a cheerleading routine which made Armuchee win the region championship in 2022. In the 2022 season, this team has a total of 18 girls. 12 of the 18 tumble with one of the 12 out because of an injury. Kenley Goetz, 6th grader, is the team’s only full, which is very impressive for a middle school. Goetz said, “Before middle school, I trained at Hot Shots. Hot shots improved me with my stunts by teaching me the technique to help my team improve. Hot Shots also help me improve with my tumbling by helping me with my form and that’s how hot shots improve me to be a better cheerleader.” Most of the tumbling girls have had cheerleading experiences prior to middle school but a few tumblers are just getting started with cheer and have progressed so much just by working hard.
The most important things in cheer are working hard and being a team. “I do competition cheer because I like the friendships and the team atmosphere of cheer” said Aubrey Smith, 8th grader. In this season, the girls have learned a lot about how to adjust and work hard as a team. They grow as a team, learn as a team, and work as a team. Many of the 8th graders, who will soon be in high school, plan to also perform in high school. This presents new learning opportunities for the cheerleaders who will continue their cheer career. But for this season, they’ll continue to grow as better athletes on and off the mat.
