Cheerleading is a sport that combines stunts, jumps, tumbling and dance to support and energize teams during games. Cheerleaders are a familiar presence at sporting events like football, and U of M students participate in the activity both on and off the field.
Paige Leonardo is a fourth-year U of M psychology student pursuing a bachelor of science with a minor in philosophy and is preparing for medical school after graduation. Leonardo is a classically trained ballerina and as of now, a cheerleader.
Leonardo shared that cheerleading practices sometimes run until midnight. She practices three hours a week at either the Fort Garry Lions Football Club, Princess Auto Stadium or L.A. Dance Academy.
Leonardo also dedicates another two hours to learning new choreography. She practices the moves at home, blocking them, positioning herself and cleaning the transitions. If all this time were not enough, she has to spend another 45 minutes to an hour just commuting to practice.
According to Leonardo, panels evaluate cheerleaders at tryouts based less on their physical skills and more on their ability to acclimate, learn the choreography and keep themselves calm.
“The key to dancing sports, it’s all a mental game,” she said.
Mistakes can happen during any performance, and such is also the case for cheerleaders. Leonardo broke it down by saying, “We’re not robots,” explaining that cheerleaders do make mistakes in their performances, but they do not reveal that to the crowd. Leonardo revealed that coaches do not criticize the cheerleaders during performances but voice their feedback during practice sessions. “They’re not focusing as much on the dance as they are about our well-being,” she said.
Meanwhile, one other thing that Leonardo prioritizes is her health. She shared that last year she would ignore her body and health and force herself to work through it, but now she is focusing on her health and sleep to ensure that she is more well-equipped.
Leonardo emphasized the importance of sleeping. She added that people should follow a consistent sleep schedule and ideally limit exposure to blue light an hour before bed. She stated that not getting proper sleep could lead to one being “overstimulated” and “grumpy.”
Leonardo also mentioned that she volunteers at the Safe Harbour Therapy Centre, where she performs client intake work and helps callers find a counsellor. She is also a resident advisor at the U of M.
Just when it seems her daily schedule has no more room, she also serves as the vice president of membership recruitment for the sorority Alpha Phi, where she works with a team of three women who help facilitate new members into the sorority. Talking about her approach toward the workload, she said she deals with the tasks herself and does not exploit her position of leadership by delegating the work to others.
While we continue to admire performances from other sports, recognizing the efforts of cheerleaders at the U of M is essential as well.
