Walking into the Main Gym on a winter night will not as rowdy as previous years; not because fewer fans are in the stands or the teams aren’t playing as hard, but because of the absence of our cheerleaders.

The new budget cuts are responsible for the dismissal of cheerleading during the winter season. Fairfax County decided that reducing cheerleading to a one-season sport would be less detrimental than getting rid of freshman sports teams, late buses, or Indoor Track & Field.

What the county might not have accounted for was how cutting the cheerleading season short will affect the team next season.

“Even though our competition season is over, the winter season helps us with our skill and maintain our endurance. We’ll see how it goes,” said Varsity cheerleading coach and Leadership teacher Betsy Fawcett.

The cheers seen at sporting events are used as a sort of trial and error for the team. They are used to see which cheers capture the crowd and should be incorporated in their competition routine.

Not having cheerleading will also have a direct effect on the basketball players. Always having that little extra push or incentive can keep a player going when they start getting tired in the later part of the game.

“It’s going to be different,” said senior basketball player Lawrence Rouse. “I could always hear them in the back of my mind and they kept the crowd into it. If the crowd’s into the game it makes it a lot more fun to play.”

 Not only do players and fans enjoy the cheerleaders and their spirit, the cheerleaders themselves enjoy the change from pace.

During the fall season, they stay outside in the freezing cold with their backs to the football field; in the winter season, however, the squad gets to come inside and stand front and center at all the basketball games.

 “It’s definitely a change because we’re more in the action. Rather than standing on the sidelines facing the crowd we’re standing directly under the basket,” said senior cheerleading captain  Erika Nielsen. “This let’s us see more on what’s going on.”

So all in all, it’s pretty safe to say that no one is in favor of getting rid of cheerleading this winter season. Instead of cheering on the court this season, the cheerleaders will be leading the rest of our crowd in cheers from the stands. While this isn’t exactly the same, the Spartan fans will have to make do. 

“It’s kind of a bummer because they kept the crowd loud and into the game,” said senior Caitlin Arneson, “but our crowds are awesome no matter what.”