Photo Credit: @hammond_cheerleading

By Aric Sahibdeen

Staff Writer

Hammond Varsity Cheerleading is gearing up for a new, electrifying season. Hammond is getting ready to cheer at basketball games and at competitions. The team is mostly made of returning players from the fall season, so most of the pre-season work that the cheerleaders have been doing is to transition their football cheers to indoor cheers as Coach Tara said, “for our competition we’re just working on fixing up our routine from the fall to compete again this winter.”

Hammond cheer is coming off a solid fall season, placing 4th in the Howard County fall championship, which took place at hammond on October 30th, they then proceeded to the state semifinals but unfortunately they weren’t able to place in the top three. The season was great, but there was still room for improvement coming into the winter season. 

The cheerleading team is very hopeful for their chances this season, as when asked what her main goal this season is, junior cheerleader Meghan stated “Probably to win counties.” Coach Tara seems very excited about the cheer team this season, stating “There’s a lot of promise in the team. A lot more skills in terms of tumbling which we were lacking in years before.” Hammond has a very successful cheer team, especially in the winter. Hammond have been 7x Regional Finalists and were Winter State Finalists twice in a row in 2023 and 2024.

The cheer team seems to be very competitive this season, with players pushing each other to be better, as one cheerleader said, “There are a lot of experienced people, like all star people and that made it very difficult to get on the mat, and in competitions in general.” Coach Tara also talked about the importance of captains and their roles as leaders in the team, “During practices I don’t always have to be reminding them to start stunting, or start warming up because the captains will just jump in and do that for me which is great because that’s what a captain should be, kind of an extension of a coach.” 

The team will be cheering at boys and girls varsity basketball games at home during the winter season, and will also be cheering at competitions. The girls will be attending the Howard County Cheerleading Championships at Atholton highschool during January 28th, at the time of 6 PM. If you can attend, please show up and support Hammond. Go Bears!