Think about middle school sports, and community service might not be the first thing to come to mind. For the members of the Donegal Indians junior high cheer team, however, giving back is now at the core of their program.
"Community service is new to our team this year," said Kellye Herbert, head coach. "It's something I strive to use for team bonding, but also to teach my cheerleaders pride in their town."
This is Herbert's third year as head coach, and not only has she expanded the focus of the team beyond cheering, but she's also expanded the team's roster. Her first year, the team had three members. It grew to 10 last year and is up to a squad of 20 this year.
"We cheer football and soccer in the fall and wrestling and basketball in the winter season," she explained. "Previously (we had) not competed in competitions for years, but I'm striving to change that and get to compete this year as the program grows."
She said community service is an important component of the team because it offers the cheerleaders a chance to see the results of their efforts beyond a sporting event. Recently, the team completed a cleanup project at Rotary Park in Mount Joy. "It is important for these girls to understand that hard work yields results," Herbert said. "They saw this firsthand at the (park) cleanup. They pitched in and helped clean up a baseball field by weeding, raking and picking up stones all while making up games with each other and having fun."
Herbert said she particularly enjoys coaching this team because she's known the girls for years. "My entire cheer team this year has cheered previously for the Donegal Braves midget program," she stated. "It's a great feeder program for the school district, working together to grow their skill set before transitioning to seventh grade." Herbert has also coached most of the team to first place wins in competition with Braves C team cheer and is working toward helping the girls develop the skills necessary to move up to varsity cheer at the high school.
Although the 2021-22 school year team roster is complete, Herbert encouraged anyone with an interest to try out in spring 2022 for the following school year. She noted that community service will continue to be a part of the team as the program grows.
"Community service helps to make the community more aware of the cheer program itself and gain their support as we grow and become competitive," she explained. "At the moment, we don't have any projects planned for the future, but we are looking for opportunities, so if a project comes up, we would be available to help."
For more information on the cheer team, contact Frank Hawkins, Donegal athletic director, at frank.hawkins@donegalsd.org.
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