VINEMONT, Ala. — Last season was Addison Whaley’s first on Vinemont’s varsity cheer team and she took away so much from that experience.
“It was a great learning experience for us all. We were a young team that grew together and became a family. We started as a team with so many members that had never cheered on varsity before and we ended up winning Regionals and placing fourth at state. I feel like that was a huge accomplishment for the team. Our goal for the season was to always strive to be better than your last performance, and I believe in the end, we accomplished our goal,” Whaley said. “I learned to never give up despite disappointments and setbacks. As a team, we were there to encourage and lift each other up when one of us was having a bad day. A lot of the older cheerleaders took the freshmen under their wings and helped teach us a lot of things.”
Addison saw the new cheerleaders quickly catch on to all the new material and took away so much from head coach Madison Ballard. She got her first taste of going to the state and had an amazing experience.
“The new cheerleaders caught on quickly and improved every day,” Whaley said. “Ms. Ballard is a great coach and we’ve learned so much from her. She has high expectations that push us to be the best we can be. She taught us to believe in ourselves and to lean on God when we are having doubts. Going to state was a scary, but exciting, experience for the team. After winning Regionals, we knew that we were capable and had the ability to perform well and score high. We competed against many great teams at state, but I feel like we performed to the best of our ability. We had zero deductions and hit all of our stunts. Being a freshman, I didn’t know what to expect going into the competition. I learned to push through my nerves and perform like I knew I could.”
Addison got to cheer alongside some amazing senior cheerleaders and has continued to put in the work as she gets ready for next season.
“I’m very proud to have cheered alongside such great senior talent, who are now moving on to cheer at college. They showed a great work ethic and leadership skills that I can take with me throughout the rest of my high school career,” she said. “I’m currently injured from an injury that sidelined me for the last half of the basketball season, so I’m very excited to be back cheering. I’m focused on regaining my strength and preparing for the upcoming season. We have several new members to our team this year, so we are focused on learning to work together and highlight each other’s skills. We just came home from cheer camp at UNA, and we placed second in the traditional competition. We had seven cheerleaders make the All-American team and won the spirit stick twice.”
Addison and the rest of the cheerleaders learned some new things during their time at UNA and will use those new skills this upcoming season. She talked about her goals, what will make this cheer team special to watch, her favorite cheerleader growing up, and the best advice that someone ever gave her.
“We were able to learn several new skills as individuals and as a team that we will be able to use in the upcoming season. We were able to see what our abilities were as a team early on, so we can continue to improve our performances in future competitions,” she said. “I was blessed to be able to achieve one of my individual goals by making the All-Amercian team. I hope to continue to improve and learn more from my coach and teammates throughout the season. Our team goals are to defend our Regionals championship title and to win our division at state.”
She added,
“This year’s team brings a lot of advanced talent to the table to make our routines exciting and entertaining. Each team member has their own unique skills that make our team better. I’ve always looked up to Elli Anne Bradley from Auburn. She’s always been someone I wanted to cheer and perform like. The best advice that my dad ever gave me was to be better than I was yesterday. This always pushed me to be the best version of myself I could be.”
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