When she met with her cheerleading team at the beginning of the school year, Houston High School coach Bobbi Sears asked the girls what they wanted to accomplish.
“They told me, more than anything, they wanted to be respected,” Sears recalled of the meeting.
A performance on the biggest stage in the state may do just that.
The HHS cheerleading team has been selected to perform March 15 during the Missouri State High School Activities Association basketball championships in Columbia.
“The girls were ecstatic,” Sears said of the news, “and I was very proud of them. They have worked extremely hard this year.”
The team will perform “Wild Ones” following the boys’ third-place game in Class 4. They were selected for the honor from an audition tape they submitted of the performance.
The team’s captains are junior Kayla Shriver and senior Jena Barbagiovanni. Other team members are: Madison Bonebrake and Brittany Scott, seniors; Dani Sears, Hailey Dodson, Emily Harrison and Kateyln Walser, juniors; Brittany McCallister and Crystal Sutphin; sophomores; and Trudee Elsworth and Angela Trent, freshmen.
In the fall, the football cheer team –– including many of the same members –– performed at halftime of a Kansas City Chiefs’ game.
“This group of girls, both the football squad and the basketball squad, has worked unbelievably hard to earn the respect of both their fellow students and the community,” Bobbi Sears said. “I have had the privilege of working with an awesome group of girls this year, and look forward to an even more successful season next year.”