“Let’s Go Rockets!” From the rhythmic routines of clapping and chanting to the enthusiastic cheers, the Richard Montgomery varsity cheer team is guaranteed to hype up the crowd. Whether the game is on the football field or volleyball court, community members will always see the smiling faces of the varsity cheerleaders ready to support the student-athletes. 

Both on Varsity and JV, the cheerleaders’ main goal is to engage the crowd in their performances that focus on teamwork. This year, the varsity cheer team is led by Head Coach Samantha Arthur and Captains Kammy McElroy and Nhi Le. McElroy is a junior who started her varsity cheer journey as a freshman. Le, the senior captain, has been on the varsity team for three years. “We cheer at their games so they feel supported with people like us by their side,” Le said.

To have a successful season, the captains emphasized how they want to ensure that the cheer environment is welcoming to both the people watching their performances and the cheerleaders themselves. “Just really making sure they are comfortable in what they are doing and comfortable asking questions and creating an environment that is fun and exciting,” McElroy said.

Having this kind of environment has proved to be helpful when cheerleaders from JV advance to a higher level by coming to varsity. Senior captain Le transitioned to varsity her sophomore year and noticed many of the differences in the expectations and mood. “On varsity, there are higher expectations and much more discipline than JV. It wasn’t too bad but it was more strict, especially with the rules,” Le said.

With varsity performing at a higher level, it requires much dedication from each cheerleader as working together is a huge component of their routines. They perform these cheers at a variety of Rockets sports games. This fall they cheered for the RM football, volleyball, field hockey, and soccer teams. At football games, they add to the electricity of the student section and the spirit brought by the colorful game themes so Rocket athletes stay hopeful and hyped in their games.

Besides these sporting events, the varsity cheerleaders participate in many other activities including ones that support the school. “We do fundraisers and car washes to raise money and show our support,” McElroy said. But what the varsity team works up to, is the cheer competition. Every season the cheer team takes a couple of months to work on a routine for the competition that is scored on difficulty and execution. This year, the cheer team is working to improve their skills so all their hard work pays off in their performance. “We are way more prepared and have advanced further within stunting. Our competition routine is already organized and we are ready to roll on competition day,” Le said.