OAK CREEK, Wis. — The Oak Creek High School cheer team brought the energy to homecoming festivities Friday.
"We definitely amp up the crowd and try to get them cheering," Cassy Cech, an Oak Creek High School cheerleader, said. Cassy is a senior at OCHS and a flyer with the cheer team.
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They drummed up school spirit during the homecoming pep rally and cheered from the sidelines during the Oak Creek Knights homecoming football game against the Racine Case Eagles.
"It's an electric feeling that I have and it's so fun to see everyone, but it is also very nerve-racking because you don't want to mess up," Tia Cech said about performing for her classmates during homecoming. She is Cassy's twin sister and currently serves as a base on the cheer team.
Alongside the band, color guard, dance team and other groups, the cheer team brings an important element to the game experience.
"We really are a big part of getting the crowd excited," head cheer coach Haley Borkowski said. "[The game] wouldn’t all be tied together without our cheer team and without our other school athletics and school programs like the band. We do a really great job collaborating together as a school to make it a great experience for the students and the athletes."
The cheer team has claimed a state championship title four out of the last five years. For them, the football season also serves as a training ground for the competition floor.
"It gets us in front of a crowd, so you are not super nervous when you are competing," Tia Cech said.
Borkowski explained how sideline performance during football season directly translates to success in competition.
"The game day division really focuses on those game day elements, so the cheers, the sidelines, getting the crowd excited and rallying. So their sideline during the football season really gets them prepared for that," Borkowski said.
With competition season approaching, both Cech twins have their sights set on winning another state title.
"[It means] everything. I really want to win and I'm going to push the team to win," Tia Cech said.
"I hope we win state again!" Cassy Cech said.
The team will return to the all girl division this season after previously competing in a coed division.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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