By Gabryela Reynoso

March 21, 2022

SAN JOSE, CALIF. — On Mar. 16, 2022, the first game of the cheer team’s stunt season took place against Westmont high school. As the Lady Raiders battled against the Lady Warriors, the competition was led with some unfair standards. 

For cheerleaders, after sideline and competition, comes stunt season. Stunt, another form of competitive cheer, is a sport where teammates compete against other schools in several rounds of partner stunts, jumps/tumbling, and pyramids. Stunt season sadly tends to be the most forgotten, despite being just as fun as the other two. As of now the Silver Creek stunt team is composed of 11 girls. The overall average size of a stunt team can range from 20-30 girls/boys, so in other words, the Lady Raiders are seriously understaffed. Nonetheless, the stunt team has continued to go on with the season in hopes of recruiting a few more members. 

After a mere 4 full practices the Lady Raiders had their first match at Sequoia High School on Wednesday, Mar. 16. Although the team was down a girl, they prevailed and arrived at the high school in attempts to give it their all. 

Due to the lack of teammates, the stunt team had to compete with only two full stunt groups when the normal is three. As a consequence of this, the team, unfortunately, was docked several points each round while Westmont had enough girls to make roughly five stunt groups. 

As the rounds went on, Westmont continued to gain points, partially for their lack of mistakes and because they had access to more members. Finally in the third quarter, the Lady Raiders were able to score a point in the jumps and tumbling section,as well as points in the fourth quarter. 

At the end of the roughly 45 minute match, the final outcome was a win for Westmont and a loss for Silver Creek. Regardless of losing, most of the Lady Raiders were grateful for the opportunity to gain more practice competing, while they continue to practice in hopes of doing better in the next matches. 

After the end of the match, Coach Alyssa De La Rosa stated, “I’m proud of you guys for continuing to try your best. We need to continue practicing and learning our counts in order to do better in the next match.” Although some may believe that the issue presented is based on skill, it most definitely has to do with quantity. The Silver Creek stunt team will continue to lose until they find enough members or the rules change. With the present-day standards even a perfect execution will not give the Lady Raiders a win. 

Until the rules change, Coaches Ojae Balgos, De La Rosa, and Mario Guzman as well as the other Lady Raiders are hoping to recruit more members in hopes of being able to form a third stunt group and have a chance at victory.