It’s crunch time and the ladies on the Seward Park High School cheerleading team are doing everything they can to raise money to attend the National High School Cheerleading Championships in Florida after qualifying for the second year in a row.
“If we’re not able to do it, it’s going to be really heartbreaking because of all the hard work, the sacrifices, that not only we as a team but people in our community have made to support us,” said Jeslynn Cayetano , a junior in the Lower East Side school.
The team has been down this road before. NY1 reported last year when the team earned their first bid to the national cheerleading competition. Money was also an issue there, but the team managed to raise the money necessary to compete – falling short in the semi-final.
What You Need To Know
The ladies of Seward Park High School cheerleading team have been doing all they can to raise money to attend the National High School Cheerleading Championship in Florida Last year when the team secured it’s very first bid for the national cheerleading competition, money was also an issue but the team managed to fundraise and made it short of the semifinal round Cheerleading is not recognized as a sport in the city and therefore receives little or no funding The team has a GoFundMe page and is still in need of about $20,000
“We’ve been practicing since last year for nationals so we already know what to expect and what to do and what’s expected of us,” junior Patrina Zamy said. On the same subject : VIDEO: Former Fifa WC Patrick Vieira Angrily Interrupts Emergency Shooting TikTok Dance Video.
But funding is always in the back of their minds.
“Money! We always think about that during practice. Maybe like ‘all our hard work is not available and what if we don’t have enough money to go?'” Cayetano said.
With only about a week and a half until nationals, the girls are ramping up their efforts, hosting bake sales on campus, rallying teachers and classmates and canvassing for support in their neighborhoods.
“Obviously sometimes it’s hard to go up to people you don’t know and ask them for money, but they’re doing their best,” said Kimberly Haynes, assistant coach for the team.
“We shouldn’t have to sit here and have to ask for funding that we should automatically have when we work so hard for it, we go to tournaments, we do everything like that if you think about basketball and things like that, they do. the same thing to compete and go forward,” said A. Curry, a freshman on the squad.
Cheerleading is not recognized as a sport in the city and therefore receives little or no funding. In addition to fundraising on the ground, the team has a GoFundMe page and still needs about $20,000.
“It feels really good to have the support of the community. It’s heartbreaking for all of us to see other teams giving them things without raising money for them, because we put in so much work,” Cayetano said.
In the case of these women, they said that they deserve their place and that they want to compete if nothing else to show them that they are nothing short of amazing.
“Even if we don’t win, it’s just like being there together, going through the not all together that shows a lot,” Zamy said.
