This year’s North cheer camp was held from Sept. 11 to 13 and included a performance at halftime of the football game on Sept. 14.

“The participants get the feel of what high school cheerleading really is,” senior Nia Salcedo said. “[It] can help them decide if they want to tryout for the team when they’re in high school.”

All participants in the camp received a t-shirt and bow to wear to the Friday game.

“We host the camp because it gives the chance for younger members of the community to learn cheerleading,” senior Mackenzie Schlanser said. “[It also gives] us cheerleaders experience as leaders while having fun with girls who look up to us.”

Grades K-3 performed at the JV game while 4-8 performed at the varsity halftime.

“We as a program enjoy running this camp, because it not only goes back to us, but develops each one of us as leaders,” senior Payton Parpet said. “We get to work with young girls of all ages and it promotes interest to our program to future North cheerleaders.”

Head coach Amanda Viece as well as JV coach Annette Wynee oversee everything, but the seniors ultimately are responsible for running the camp.

“Each day we taught the girls three new cheers to perform during sidelines on Friday,” junior Hailey Wilson said. “It gave JV and varsity cheerleaders the opportunity to work as a coach and help create a fun experience for the girls. It also allowed a growing experience for our team.”

This year, there were 54 youth participants and a large percentage of the girls returned from last year.

“Every year, there are some new members of the North program that attended our youth camp prior to trying out at North,” Parpet said. “It’s a good way for girls with interest in the program to meet our coaches and also see what the environment of North cheer consists of.”

There was a $50 registration fee for participants and a signed parent release form was required.

“The North cheerleaders like to run it because we get to teach the youth everything we have learned from our own experiences of being in cheer for multiple years,” Salcedo said. “We also want to be good role models for them and show good leadership skills.”