Maine teams to debut at NE cheering event Squads must alter routines

Along with the prize of winning a state championship this year, Maine’s top cheerleading teams also earned the right to compete in today’s New England Spirit Championships.

And along with that honor came a few headaches for some of the state’s cheerleading coaches.

The teams who will travel to the University of New Hampshire’s Whittemore Center for the competition are happy to be going, but the tough part has been making adjustments to their routines in order to accommodate a few differences between states and New Englands.

“It’s been really quite difficult,” said Brewer head coach Kristie Reed, who guided the Witches to their first Class A state title this year. “You feel like you’re tearing apart something that finally worked.”

The Witches are hoping all their changes will be enough, while Class B state champ Hermon is riding most of its original routine with a few changes.

Brewer will compete in Division I, which is equivalent to Maine’s Class A while Hermon is in Division II (Class B). Class C state champion Washington Academy of East Machias would have been in Division III but the Raiders will compete in the coed division because they have four boys.

The rest of the Maine contingent includes Biddeford, Edward Little of Auburn, Oak Hill of Sabattus, Mountain Valley of Rumford, St. Dominic of Auburn, Bangor Christian and Central Aroostook of Mars Hill.

The top three teams in each Maine classification advanced to the New Englands, although neither Class D champ Fort Fairfield and Class C runner-up Houlton will attend because of the longer season that is required to compete in the New Englands.

The Maine state championships were held on Feb. 10 and 12 – more than a month before New Englands.

This is the first year Maine has sent cheerleading teams to New Englands, which is in its second year of competition. Maine’s cheerleading coaches association brought the issue of going to New Englands to the attention of the Maine Principals’ Association, said Brewer’s Reed, who is the coaches’ liaison to the MPA.

Each team will perform its routine once with no callbacks, similar to Maine’s regional championships. Scoring will be out of 210 points instead of Maine’s 175, but the same National Federation of State High School Association Spirit Rulebook will be in used.

The biggest discrepancy between the state and regional level is the amount of music time teams are allowed in their routines. In Maine, the entire 3-minute routine can have music. At the New Englands, however, teams are permitted just 90 seconds of music.

Reed altered the Witches’ routine to take out enough music so that the team doesn’t miss the 90-second limit. That meant moving around stunts and skills.

“I wanted to follow the rules, I guess,” Reed said. “And I don’t want to come within five points and think, if I’d only done that.”

After a week of tinkering with her team’s routine, Hermon coach Lisa Pratt opted to leave in the music, which she knows will cost the first-time state champion Hawks five penalty points.

“The big thing about us and what Hermon brings is a lot of tumbling,” Pratt said. “It was really hard to [make changes with] 13 tumblers and still have the personality and the strength that we had at states.”

The reasoning behind the music limit, Reed said, is to make sure teams don’t forget the importance of vocalized cheers and school spirit – it is called the “Spirit Championships” – while also focusing on stunts, dance and tumbling.

Teams can also incorporate signs, which are not used at states. Reed said her squad will use signs, while Pratt said although the Hawks have them and have practiced with them, she’s not sure if they’ll be used Saturday.

Reed believes both Brewer and Hermon, with all of its tumbling, have a chance to finish well.

“From going last year and watching, there were a couple of teams that I think skill-wise were far ahead of us,” Reed said. “But after those top two or three, we’re very competitive.”

As usual, individuals or teams heading to the New Englands are responsible for their own expenses. Both Brewer and Hermon were to leave Friday.

Reed said Brewer’s bus expense was donated – she said the donor preferred not to be revealed – but the team was fundraising for the rest of its expenses, including its hotel rooms.

Most of the Hawks’ trip is being paid for by the school department, which has been a big confidence boost for the team.

“[The school] said, what can we do, how can we get this done,” Pratt said. “[Superintendent of Schools Patricia Duran] said, absolutely. It’s been a huge relief. I don’t think we’re the team we are or the team you’re gonna see down there without that support.”

Last year’s champions were Salem (N.H.) in Division I, Westford Academy (Mass.) in Division II, East Bridgewater (Mass.) in Division III, Lynnfield (Mass.) in Division IV and Manchester Central (N.H.) in the coed division.