WEST POINT, Ala. — In this interview, I talked to West Point cheerleader and soccer player Kaedince Cagle about her years at West Point High School and she shared some of her favorite memories made on and off the field.
“My favorite memory from cheerleading has to be when we competed at state. We worked so hard all year and made it through Regionals in order to get to state. We were all so nervous, but excited at the same time. Just being there together, hitting every stunt, smiling beside each other, hearing us motivate one another, made it worth it, even if we did not win. It was a new experience for West Point cheer that I will never forget. For soccer, my favorite memory was when we made it to the playoffs. It was the first year that a soccer team from West Point made it to the playoffs. We worked hard and pushed each other all year. Winning the game that had to be won to get to the playoffs felt amazing. We all ran together on the field celebrating. Even if we didn’t make it far in the playoffs, I was still so proud of the team. It was a moment I will never forget.”
Kaedince accomplished so much with some amazing girls and cheerleaders and made a lot of great friends in the process.
“It was so incredible. Sometimes, it felt unreal that we made it that far, but it was such a great feeling, knowing our hard work was paying off,” Cagle said. “It was so much fun to be around girls that wanted to do great things. In both sports, we always commented randomly to motivate one another. Being around such great girls really opened my eyes to teamwork and friendships.”
Kaedince learned so much from all of her coaches in both sports and from playing them. She will deeply miss cheering and playing soccer next year.
“The coaches were amazing. Through my cheer years, I had three different coaches, but they were all so great. They understood cheer and motivated us to do our best. What I learned from them is that you can do mostly anything with mental strength. For soccer, I had one coach all throughout high school. He was a great coach, and he also really understood the sport of soccer. He pushed me every day, even when I kept messing up. Soccer was such a great experience, and it really changed my life and so did my soccer coach. I learned that you can be and do anything, no matter where you started.”
She added,
“What I learned the most about cheering was motivation and positive words. At practices and competitions, I could hear my team always saying positive comments, telling each other, ‘You got this’, and from the other teams at cheer competitions as well. I could always hear them cheering us on, even if we were going up against each other. With soccer, what I learned the most was teamwork. We would always work hard at practices and games together. Soccer is probably one of the most teamwork engaging sports, because without just one person, it can all fall apart. Teamwork also leads to so many close friendships. I will miss my friends and the fun times I had cheering and playing soccer with them the most.”
Kaedince talked about her favorite high school memories and what made West Point a special place to go to.
“My favorite high school memories has to be during Homecoming week. There would be fun dress-up days every day of that week, and each grade would go against each other in different activities. Then, at the end of the week, there would be a parade through West Point and a bonfire to end the night. That week has all of my favorite high school memories,” she said. “West Point was a special place to go to, because everyone cared for each other. The teachers and other staff members were always there for the students. They motivated them and helped them the best they could. During my sophomore year, a kid named Christopher Owens passed away. That was the moment I began to see how special West Point was, not just the school, but the community. West Point is a special place to go to, because they care about every aspect of a student’s educational and personal life.”
Kaedince will remember so much about being at West Point and will deeply miss being a Warrior next year. She gave the upcoming freshman some advice.
“I will remember the fun times I had at West Point: school days, Friday Night Lights, club activities, and soccer game days,” she said. “I will miss the time I spent with my friends the most. My close friends: Meadow Cooper, Sydney Carpentier, Kyli Armistead, and Savannah Smith; I will miss seeing them at West Point. My advice would be to never keep your head down. There might be some rough days ahead, not just at school, but at home. Just keep pushing, because no matter where you start, you’re the one that decides the journey and where you end up.”
Kaedince was in so many clubs during her time at West Point and took away so much from being in those clubs.
“It was a lot of fun and work, but in the end, it was an honor,” she said. “I learned how to manage my time properly. Dealing with academics to stay in some clubs, while also performing at competitions for the agricultural teams, plus cheering and playing soccer, may seem like a lot, but with proper time management, it didn’t feel like a lot. I learned that it can pay off, if you just put yourself out there. It was awesome being around great people. Seeing that many people also putting themselves out there really helped me and being around them pushed me to keep going.”
Kaedince received a few scholarships and was so blessed to get them. She talked about what she will take away the most about being a Warrior.
“I received one from UNA, UAB, and Samford University, which is where I will be attending this fall. All of them are academic scholarships. It felt really great. I worked really hard on my academics throughout high school, so seeing it pay off was a good feeling,” she said. “What I will take away the most is to always be there for others. Even on bad days, West Point was there. I began to really feel that this year, so I tried to always ask people how their day was, because you never know what a person is going through, until you ask. I will take away to be kind and be there for others.”
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