Packed in the stands are screaming fans. The evening sky is filled with a warm breeze. The date is October 3. For everyone else, it’s just another football game. But for Bellevue East’s cheer team, it’s their big night. The pressure was on as they performed the routine they’d been meticulously training. They finish without missing a beat. With sweat beading down her forehead, Rya Bubser takes a break to chat alongside her teammates, another successful performance under her belt. 

As the new school year begins, Bellevue East’s cheer team is officially up and running for 2025. With new members on the team and a new head coach, the cheerleaders prepare for the pep rallies and events such as their showcases in order to boost school spirit.

“I’m most excited to show off our new skills that we are learning how to do,” senior Rya Bubser said.

The team officially began cheering in front of audiences during August, but has been practicing since late May. Over the summer, the cheerleaders conditioned and trained in preparation for their scheduled performances. This gave the team time to refine their abilities such as cover skills, which refer to the basic stunts and tumbling that more challenging cheer maneuvers are built upon. 

“[I’m proud of the cheerleaders for] overcoming my coaching style and learning their skills; cover skills,” head coach Dylan Hill said. “[And] just building them back up to a program they should be at.”

For the 2025-2026 school year, East’s cheer team has a new sponsor, head coach Dylan Hill. Many cheerleaders have had to adjust to this brand new change.

“[If you plan to join cheer] be prepared to sweat a lot,” senior Stephanie Carranza-Pulido said. “The coach this year does not believe in cutting practice short. You need to have tough skin as well, cheer isn’t just smiling and having poms this year.”

However, this is not the only new addition to the cheer team. Some new members have also joined, allowing new team dynamics to form and bonds to be made.

“We have a few new members but they are doing so good and we all get along really well,” Bubser said.

The team is composed of several standard cheerleaders along with a trio of student captains. The chain of command helps things run more smoothly in the sport and gives the cheerleaders someone to look up to in their sport. 

“We have three captains, one main captain and then two co-captains,” Hill said. “So they kind of report back to me with things that they want to do or if I need them to do something then I report to them and they report to the team.”

Like most other extracurriculars, cheer can have its ups and downs. According to Hill, the team faced a few challenges when it came to certain cheer techniques.

“The difficulty of skills is frustrating at times, so just overcoming that ‘I can’t do it,’ but you actually can do it,” Hill said.

In spite of these minor setbacks, the team is working to overcome obstacles. According to Bubser, one thing that she believes helps her and her teammates is staying positive.

“I think I bring energy because we all get stressed out sometimes and the best thing to have is energy or positivity to help bring up the mood,” Bubser said.