Courtesy Paschal High School Cheer
High School Cheer squads from all over Texas competed Saturday in the University Interscholastic League (UIL) cheer competition held at the Convention Center. Out of the 74 teams competing, Fort Worth’s own R.L. Paschal High School Cheer Squad came in 1st place in the 6A D2 division. This is the first time in the school’s history, it’s ever placed first in this division.
When asked about her reaction to this win, Paschal High head cheer coach and 13-year cheer veteran, Alex Saenz, says she is ecstatic.
“We are all still in kind of a state of shock,” Saenz says during a phone interview. “We just had a great team this year that executed the routines we worked hard on and the work definitely paid off.”
What made this year different from past years, she says, was the addition of a new choreographer. “We brought in Ashley Johnson as our new choreographer from San Antonio in September, and since then she just inspired the kids in a positive way to learn about why cheer was created,” Saenz explains.
This means all 30-plus cheer participants had a chance to learn the basics of how Cheer is supposed to inspire team spirit in spectators. “The kids just bought into this right away and that was something different we hadn’t implemented in the past,” she says. “That’s what I am attributing to this year’s success … [Johnson] just brought a new life into us.”
According to Saenz, team selection for the cheer roster begins a year in advance in the month of March. And much like football, the cheer season begins in August with special attention being placed on homecoming and weekly pep rallies. It’s only after these functions begin to wind down toward the end of the year, that the cheer squad begins UIL prep.
During regular season sports, cheer teammates usually have an hour-long practice. But just before a competition, they put in 4-hour plus practice routines to perfect the many categories they will be judged on. Some of those categories include band chant, crowd leading, and fight song.
“During our off-season in the Spring, we utilize the weight room and throughout the year we just do our best to keep up with the maintenance of our technical skills like tumbling and stunts,” she says. “Then from there, it’s just reps, to keep cheer participant’s stamina up for things like stretching, jumping, and mental work.”
That’s right — mental work. Saenz confirms that the cheer team also watches a lot of films throughout their practices to see how routines look in transition. “We watch a lot of slow-motion films so we can see who exactly is off and know where we can improve visually,” she says.
During the sports season, Saenz says the roster of 50 cheer members gets split up into varsity and junior varsity divisions. But for competition season, Paschal is only allowed to have 30 cheer members on the mat.
“So, we take the 30 we think will give us the best routine we have to compete with,” Saenz says. “All other members are considered an alternate, learning the routine on the sideline or they go in when someone is hurt.”
This year, Saenz says she only had one injury early in the season that didn’t affect Paschal’s chances of winning.
“Last year we had five cases of Covid happen the day before the competition,” Saenz verified. “This year, we were able to maintain and keep the original 30 people we wanted to compete for the championship. This really helps me work out the routines better since we have the same people building on what we’ve practiced over a long period of time.”
Tears of joy were the motif post-win for the cheer team after they were announced as the first-place winners, Saenz says with humility and pride. “I think we just went limp and had to be pushed onto the mat because we were in a state of shock when they were handing us our trophies.”
Saenz says she also wants to recognize the many parents who have been along for this journey as well. “They are incredible and are always willing to help with anything and everything to support their kids.”
