HANCEVILLE, Ala. — Hanceville freshman cheerleader Millie Brown hasn’t been on varsity long, but she has already accomplished so much, and she has definitely enjoyed the experience with her teammates so far.
“It has been a lot of work, but fun at the same time. We have been practicing three times a week over the summer. We also had several fundraising events. Not too long ago, we attend cheer camp at the University of Alabama. I had so much fun at UCA camp with my team. I didn’t realize how tiring camp really was, but I had a great time with my teammates,” Brown said. “We were Game Day Champions, Camp Routine Champions, Crowd Leading Champions, received three Superior Gold ribbons, Superior Blue ribbons on all of our evaluations, and won the Spirit Stick awards. I was excited, because I was able to try out for All-American cheerleader and ended up making it. Overall, it has been a great experience so far.”
She added,
“It was very stressful and exhausting having to learn so much in a very short amount of time. I am proud that it resulted with a positive outcome. In addition, I’m optimistic and I look forward to the things that our team could accomplish together in the future.
Millie has had a blast so far cheering with some great girls and learned a very important thing from them. She has also learned some things from her coaches as well.
“It is always great to be able to work with a group of people who love cheering as much as I do. The most important thing I have learned is that a team will only be successful when the whole team works together towards a common goal,” she said. “One of the coaches is my mom and she has taught me a lot. She always jokes that I was raised going to cheer practices (laughs). My other coach, Ms. Radcliff, has taught me to have a positive attitude and always try my best, no matter what the situation is, or what is happening with the team.”
Millie has already seen a big improvement in her performance so far and has continued to work on her performance in preparation for this upcoming season.
“We go weekly to Cullman Gymnastics and Cheer Academy, and I have seen a big improvement in my stunting abilities,” she said. “At practices, we work on band chants, sideline cheers/chants, and stunts. At home, I always stretch to help my jumps. I do many drills to help my tumbling get stronger, and I watch myself in a mirror so I can check my motion placement.”
She has two great junior leaders to look up to this season in Josie Radcliff and Haylee Nethery. She talks about her goals and the team goals for this season and what will make this cheer squad special to watch.
“Josie and Haylee have been great leaders. They are a good influence on myself and my other teammates. They have taught us many cheers and chants that we need to know for the upcoming football season. They are always there if we need help,” she said. “My goals are to get better at my standing tumbling (I want to be able to do a standing tuck), and to improve the height of my jumps (I would like to have inverted toe touches) (laughs). As for the team’s goals, we want to win the Cullman County Game Day cheer competition, and we hope to make it to the state cheer competition. What will make us special to watch is we enjoy each other’s company, so I think it shows when we are together cheering or performing.”
Millie talked about her role model growing up and the best advice that someone ever gave her.
“My sister, Tess, cheered when she was in school, so I have always looked up to her growing up. Her tumbling was always amazing, her jumps were inverted, and she had an awesome work ethic,” she said. “The best advice that I was ever given by someone was that you are in charge of your life. Figure out what makes you happy and do everything you can to keep it that way.”
The team’s performance at cheer camp definitely helped them out, confidence-wise, and it helped out with Millie’s confidence as well going into this upcoming season.
“Since we were able to perform well at cheer camp, I feel like it will help us have confidence for the upcoming season. It will give us a lot more confidence than before,” she said. “That performance makes me so excited going into this season. It makes me realize how fun my ‘sport’ is with the people that I love. I can’t wait until the upcoming season starts.”
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