64 www.ReadMPM.com | www.MountPleasantMagazine.com | www.MountPleasantPodcast.com our sports school identity and new traditions to build from. On the other side of the Cooper River, Bishop England brings a much longer institutional history. Founded in 1915, the school spent decades in downtown Charleston before moving to its current Daniel Island campus in 1998. Today, its cheerleaders are part of a school community whose traditions stretch back more than a century. Oceanside Collegiate Academy and Philip Simmons High School represent newer chapters in the area’s educational landscape, with cheer programs continuing to grow alongside their schools and communities. That mix of old and new is part of what makes Mount Pleasant’s cheer landscape so interesting. Some programs are carrying forward generations of school spirit, while others are still creating traditions their younger athletes will eventually pass down. At Wando, that tradition begins even before many athletes officially join the high school team. Head coach Rhiannon Mansfield said many of her cheerleaders grew up through Wando’s cheer pipeline, attending Little Warrior camps as kindergartners and elementaryaged students before eventually becoming part of the high school program. “We are truly a family,” Mansfield said. For some athletes, that family extends well beyond graduation. Mansfield said former Wando cheerleaders have carried their friendships into college, with some even becoming roommates. Whether a cheerleader is stepping into a tradition decades in the making or helping create one for the first time, the role remains remarkably similar: show up, support your school and make the people around you feel like they belong. MORE THAN THE SIDELINES From the outside, cheerleading can be easy to underestimate. The cheers and dances may be the most visible part, but coaches noted that there is far more happening behind the scenes. At Bishop England High School, secondyear coach Emma Johnston said her athletes spend countless hours drilling and repeating stunts, tumbling and jumps. This season, the team has been especially focused on timing and trust. “They’re trusting the coaching staff, trusting their teammates and trusting themselves,” Johnston said. That trust is not optional when athletes are depending on one another in the air. Lucy Beckham High School head varsity coach Mackenzie Spraker sees the same athletic demands in her athletes. Beckham’s team practices four to five days a week and trains consistently for competition through the end of November while simultaneously navigating football season. Spraker wishes more people understood just how much athleticism cheer requires. “It combines gymnastics, acro,” she said. “It’s not just spirit.” Philip Simmons High School head coach Brittani Williams said the intricacy of the sport is similarly misunderstood. “You often hear people say, ‘Oh, cheering is so easy. You just go out there and you cheer on your team,’” Williams said. “But there’s really some complexity that goes behind the stunts and the tumbling that I don’t think people really realize.” Her athletes spend time in the gym during the summer Emma Johnston, Bishop England High School second-year coach. Wando High School head coach Rhiannon Mansfield. Mackenzie Spraker, Lucy Beckham High School head varsity coach.
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