After many successes last year, the Bob Jones football and competition cheer team is working hard. Last year the team won 1st place in the small varsity division at the regional competition at Sparkman. They also got 4th place out of 60 teams at UCA Nationals in Orlando, FL. Tyshiauna Ransom, a senior and captain of the team, said she is looking forward to being better than they were last year and to achieve their goals for this year. 

While the team is still practicing like normal and preparing for their regional competition on October 31st, this year looks a lot different for the team because of the pandemic and quarantine. Katie Steele, a junior cheerleader said, “It’s a bit tougher because we had to start the season 3 months later than what we normally do, but we are trying our best to keep our masks on at practice and to sanitize.” Another hard thing due to the pandemic is that the team has less practice time, according to Coach Ashley Mitchell-Dowdell. She feels like she is having to limit time because she is trying to limit the amount of exposure the girls have with each other. “It has been a challenge because with cheer, repetitions are everything. The more reps you get in, the better your stunts and tumbling will be.” The team practices for two hours at least three times a week as well as cheering for the football team every Friday night.

In addition to representing the school in cheer competitions and cheering on the Bob Jones football team every week on the sidelines, they also participate in school spirit events and service projects. Recent activities have included painting the Chick-fil-a windows for the Bob Jones vs. James Clemens milkshake contest and painting rocks for the Madison City River of Hope. Also, normally they host a cheer camp and Breakfast with Santa for children in the community as well.

Despite all of the weirdness this year, the team has a very close bond. Tristen Moulton, a freshman on the team says her “favorite part is definitely the people and coaches. It’s an amazing environment.” Some of the cheerleaders’ favorite memories from last year were when they were waiting at finals for UCA Nationals for their name to be called to see what place they made, and after they performed was one of the happiest moments the team had ever experienced as a whole, according to the captain, Tyshiauna Ransom. Katie Steele also shared a funny memory, “My favorite memory is when we left our team captain, Cassi Fabby, last year at the resort when we went to Hollywood Studios at nationals. We didn’t notice she was gone until we were halfway there. Luckily, she eventually got to the park and we can all laugh about it now.”

The Bob Jones football/competition cheer team is ready for a great year. Game on, Bob Jones!