Submitted Photo The Des Lacs-Burlington cheer team claimed the Spirit Award at the Division A, Region 3 Boys Basketball Tournament held March 4-7 at the Minot State Dome. Left to right: (Mascot) Jaren Berg, (Junior) Abby Repnow, (Junior) Lakin Schneider, (Junior) Riley Davis, (Senior) Payton Miller, (Junior) Paige Reiter, (Senior) Aleina Billings, (Junior) Abby Godejohn

Years of development are part of the process for growing cheer teams. After a decade of work and development, the Des Lacs-Burlington high school cheer team is beginning to see what the potential is despite being a smaller group from a smaller school serving smaller communities.

“We have ten students this year,” said the Lakers head cheer coach Alyssa Casavant. “Six of those ten are brand new to cheering this year. That limits what stunts and cheers are possible as well as what competition events we can attend and participate in.”

The Des Lacs-Burlington squad returned three juniors who cheered as sophomores and the team Mascot who was a freshman last season. The Lakers added a pair of seniors, three inexperienced juniors and a sophomore to the mix. The team needed some time to see what would be possible to learn and develop in a short time.

“We took two, three months to learn and drill the basics before we could see what we had and what we could implement with the team,” said Casavant. “It was a surprise and eye-opening to the girls that the participation and skills learned might bring rewards other than the fun of being part of the group supporting school functions.”

The team is not unfamiliar with cheer competition. In the NDCCA 2021 Winter event, the Lakers placed second in the Stunt Group Class B – tied with Stanley and behind the winners from Rugby. Also at that event, Mia Campana placed fifth overall in the All Round Challenge Class B for Des Lacs-Burlington. But each season is like starting over due to the need to recruit fresh as the school year starts.

This year the squad was so new, they were not ready for the state competition, but targeted the Division A, Region 3 Boys Basketball Tournament as their moment to compete. The Lakers were able to win first place in the Spirit Award that is part of the region tournament. In addition, senior Aleina Billings tried out for the cheer team at University of North Dakota and will attend a follow up, in person tryout in May for a shot at making the team.

“I have girls now commenting that they have goals to cheer again in the future,” said Casavant. “That was not how it was for me as a cheerleader here back when I was a student.”

Casavant didn’t consider herself an athlete in high school, but loved basketball and ended up on the cheer team as a way to be part of a group in the school community and attend events in support of other students.

“It seems to be scary to consider trying out for a cheer team,” said Casavant. “In addition to the physical requirements, there is an element of having an outgoing personality that can be intimidating at first. We want to help each other come out of our comfort zone and continue to grow and develop.”

In a small community, it is a team effort with support from the school, coaches and parents to create and develop any team. The biggest key to continued growth and success is the cheerleaders themselves.

“The students know who is graduating, who is coming into the school and they are the main reason that new members end up joining,” said Casavant. “That word of mouth effort and the comradery that is developed within the team is what makes the team continue to grow and develop. I loved having that as a student here and enjoy it as a coach. The chance to mentor and grow together makes this very enjoyable.”