The team began their three-day annual National Cheer Association camp, July 26, at San Diego State University, along with other schools such as Rancho Bernardo and San Pascual. The objective of the camp was to integrate the new members into the team and learn to work well together as a team for the upcoming season. 

“We wanted to be able to work with the new members so that we could grow as a team.” Quinn Padgett (10) said. “The camp really helped us be more in sync.”

The cheerleaders were randomly paired up for the dorm assignments. Some knew their roommate, while others did not.

 I was excited to see who my roommate would be for the next few days,” Quinn Padgett (10) said. “I got paired up with Bella who I didn’t know very well, but I was super excited to get to know her, and we were able to bond during the camp. At first, we barely knew each other, but by the end of camp we had spent lots of time together.”  

Their schedule ran from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. each day, with 9 of the 13 hours spent practicing in the gymnasium.

The cheerleaders got to experience life as a college student. They had late-night debrief sessions in the dorms, ate meals as a team in the dining hall, and cheered together in the gymnasium. 

“Even though we were exhausted at the end of the day, we would still go back and forth between each other’s dorm rooms,” Padgett said. “We would share snacks and just talk.” 

Each day they did new activities such as learning new dances and cheers, pyramids, and tumbling skills, they focused a lot on the spirit aspect of their sport. There were daily competitions to receive a ‘spirit stick’, a wooden red white and blue stick meant to symbolize spirit. The coaches of the school that won a stick would decorate it that night and bring it back the next day. 

While Clara Lynch (10) said the camp was exciting and fun, but one of the difficult parts was the exhaustion of cheering for so many hours each day. 

“The hardest part was the long days that really took down our energy levels,” Clara Lynch (10) said. “We all just put in so much work and effort to make our team better by showing up every day and working hard, as well as learning new cheers and dances.” 

However, an aspect of the camp that kept the cheerleaders motivated was winning a spirit stick. the schools would try to have the most spirit, getting hyped up to music and having positive high energy. Westview won three spirit sticks which are red, white, and blue decorated batons meant to encourage spirit. Varsity won one, jv won one, and the Westview cheer program won one. To connect with teammates, after each day, the team would have “team time.” They would all gather together to create goals, raise spirit, and reflect on their day, spending time together both inside and outside the gymnasium. 

“We would build up our spirit by eating together and exchanging gifts,” Katie Kim (10) said. “We also watched the other schools during showcases and cheered them on together. Overall just being around each other and working together helped us stay upbeat and spirited.”

During practices, the cheerleaders also listened to a lot of hype music to bring their energy and spirit up. 

“For our water breaks, the NCA staff would play music for all of us,” Samara Ramirez (10) said. “When this happened, all the teams would run to the middle of the gym and have some sort of a mosh pit. It was nice because we could let loose for a bit.” 

Westview cheer forged connections with other schools that attended the camp. The cheerleaders could watch and cheer each other on as they performed their final performance. Some exchanged gifts and became friends with cheerleaders from different schools.

“It was nice because we got to know the other schools in our area in a non-competitive space where we could all bond,” Lynch said. “My favorite memory is from the last day when I was talking to a couple of friends I had made on the San Pasqual team and we started to huddle up while swaying to the sad songs that were playing. It wasn’t long until every single cheerleader was lined up around the gym with their arms around each other, so grateful to have gotten to meet such amazing people in such a short time.”

On the last day, the girls received their ‘Bigs and Littles.’ This is where an older girl, typically from the varsity squad, is paired up with a younger girl from JV. They will exchange gifts and snacks before games throughout the season. For the reveal, the younger girls received gifts from their big that included a pair of socks. The littles then all went around the room looking for the girl wearing the matching pair of socks. 

“The lead-up to the reveal was very exciting,” Kara Yoon (10) said. “It was a little chaotic the night of our reveal, I certainly had absolutely no idea what was happening, but we had the JV members close their eyes and all placed our gifts in their hands. Then they went around and found the Varsity member with the matching pair. It was really nice meeting them and getting to know them.”