Young team ready for competition

Six-year cheer coach Carrie Young is confident in her cheering squad going into this weekend’s Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation championships despite aspects that might not be in their favor.

“We’re a younger squad this year,” the Kaua‘i High School coach said. “I think we only have two seniors on the squad.”

But that’s not to say they don’t have skill.

“A lot of these girls came up from Pop Warner teams, so they have cheered and are just making it to the competition level.”

They are also now an all-female squad.

“I think this is the first year without guys on the squad, so the girls have had to step it up with the harder stunts,” Young said. “I think maybe the girls have been used to the guys being there and doing the stunts and the lifts and now the girls have to do them.”

Kaua‘i and the other two squads from Waimea and Kapa‘a have also had to deal with the season change. In previous seasons the squads would have their championships in January. This year, cheerleading was pushed to the fall season.

“We lost a couple months to prepare so we started preparing our routine since July,” she said.

Young said the squad needs to have the winning mindset.

Maintaining that mentality, Young said, is their biggest obstacle.

“It’s a mental thing. I keep telling them the only person who can beat them is themselves,” she said. “But they’ve got a lot of heart. All the squads are going to be competitive. Kapa‘a and Waimea are really solid. That’s good because it makes us better.”

The last time Kaua‘i took home the KIF title was in 2005.

For the next two days, The Garden Island will feature Kapa‘a and Waimea’s cheering squads leading up to the championships at 12 p.m. on Saturday at host site Kaua‘i.

• Lanaly Cabalo, sports editor, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 237) or lcabalo@kauaipubco.com.