Raising Spirits

Click below to hear the San Clemente National Champion Cheerleaders with advisor Laura Janis (front)

Raising Spirits

Meet Laura Janis, Cheer Advisor for San Clemente High. She’s young, yet responsible for the safety and performance of 42 girls. Molding young, fresh lives, Laura works to instill confidence in the girls’ ability to handle anything, from flack from their peers, to stunning, yet risky stunts. As the girls shape their pyramids, Laura helps them shape the rest of their lives.

A hero has the potential to change lives. A hero isn’t afraid of challenges. They go in when things aren’t perfect and make a difference. They have vision. Something happened to cheerleading. It once had enormous respect, almost awe, associated with it. Today cheerleading is more difficult. Stunts demand precision and physical stamina and it has higher grade requirements than for other sports.

They’re amazing athletes. Two of them can do a standing back tuck, almost half can do a standing back handspring. For those of you who don’t know what a standing back tuck is, here goes. Stand still. In one instant motion, throw your arms up, tuck them at your sides and swoop your feet over your head and land in the same direction you started from. Yes, it’s hard. It entails enormous confidence and trust - skills any girl would do well to have. Cheerleading helps develop this confidence.

Laura was a cheerleader at SCH for 4 years. “It’s always been a dream for me to come back and teach at my old high school.” Today she’s in charge of all coaches and advises 42 girls. “I am here for them. They know they can come to me if they’re having problems.” She also teaches math. Laura’s strategy is to provide consistency. Some seniors had four different cheer advisors. “They haven’t seen the same person. I think they need that head person as a strong point.”

Laura heard that in recent years, students didn’t respond positively to cheerleaders. “When I was here, everyone was treated nicely We were very well respected. I don’t know what happened between then and now. But I think the morale is going up again. They’re looking more highly on the girls. I keep telling them, “The way you treat your classmates is how they’ll treat you. It’s going to be up to you to do that.”

Both the coaches and the girls “spot” or guard during a stunt. On a new stunt, the girls stand with their arms up to make sure no one falls. The coaches have a rule. If a girl touches the ground coming out of a stunt, the entire squad does 25 push-ups. “That should motivate them to catch her,” Laura says.

Cheering has gotten more spectacular – but SCH puts a huge effort into safety. “If they don’t hit a stunt during practice on mats, they can’t do it on gravel or the hard gym floor. We only allow them to put up stunts that are solid during practice.” Sometimes the boys in her class tell her, “The cheerleaders fell again.” Laura said, “Do you know how hard it is to lift somebody?”

The girls are current National Champions. “It’s a neat story,” Laura says. With competition looming Sunday, at their last practice Thursday evening, a varsity cheerleader broke her hand. “A girl came down. It just snapped. The injured cheerleader called her sophomore sister and said, ‘Can you come here?’ She did and learned the routine in three days. They got first place. They knew they didn’t want to pull out of the competition and stuck it out, canceling jobs, rescheduling trips and putting in 2 more practices over vacation.” That’s pulling together.

“Before this year it’s been like pulling teeth to get the girls to compete. This year it’s phenomenal. The girls love to compete. They’re winning after years of the program not doing well.” The girls have a demanding schedule. 7 competitions from January to April. One every other weekend. This is in addition to cheering at games, 6-7 hours of weekly practice, jobs and oh yes, school and homework! They are required to maintain a 2.5 GPA, higher than basketball or football. They have to be smart.

Cheerleading teaches the girls time management. They must regulate extracurricular activities, jobs and homework. They learn character, how to handle situations and present themselves in front of their peers. Because they are in uniform, they always stand out. “We tell them, ‘People are always watching you. You have to act like it.’ They don’t want to look silly out there. They learn to communicate to each other when something’s not going right. They must trust each other. These are valuable skills for their futures. In job interviews they’ll be confident enough to say how they feel in a nice way. They have leadership ability. If they’re in a hard situation, they’ll say, ‘This is what we’re going to do. This, this, and this,’ instead of just going crazy. I had all the girls in for character building skills. One day we did gossiping. One day, the different effects of communicating. They’re able to have a bonding connection to different people,” says Laura. “There are 28 girls out there right now. They all have different attitudes yet they can come together, get along and laugh.”

What does it take to make cheerleading at SCH? A combination of grades, actual tryouts and interviews. Some pointers. Have confidence. Know the sport. If you’re on defense, know that. Make eye contact. Show interest in becoming a cheerleader. Laura said, “Last year one girl was asked ‘What can you contribute to cheerleading?’ She said, ‘I don’t know.’ I said, ‘Just say something.”

Their visibility is improving. “Dr. Hinman sent a message to the school saying, ‘Congratulations, Varsity Cheerleaders on your National Championship.’ I think that showed the entire school community we have a strong program, that the girls are doing very well, that it’s more than just ‘rah,rah.’ It’s hard work.”

“I have lots of visions for this program and high hopes that I can be more of a role model and leader for these girls so they become the best that they can. This is my first year and it’s kind of overwhelming.” That’s part of jumping in. Heroes sometimes get thrown into the fire in more ways than one.

What would Laura tell a young San Clemente girl thinking about becoming a cheerleader? “Get into gymnastic immediately. Come on out to our program. It’s a lot of fun and a lot of work. You’ll do amazing things here.”

“We have the most incredible girls around. I wouldn’t do it without them. They are just amazing.” Building our youth and entertaining us in the process, Laura helps these girls bring more cheer, more spirit to San Clemente. I’m all for more spirit and sportsmanship. As a former cheerleader I can say cheerleading is a unique, one-time, life experience. When these girls fly through the beautiful San Clemente air, Laura is cheering them on.

Live like a hero,

Terri Marie


Laura’s Lessons

• Use technology
The most difficult part of Laura’s job? “Getting all the info to the parents because there’s so many of them. The website has helped a lot because I can post it. They can read it and prevent miscommunications.” When you have hundreds of people relying on info for practice, this is a lifesaver.

• Ignore the little stuff
“If somebody yells something at our cheerleaders, I say ignore it because your sportsmanship is strong. You can’t just start yelling at them. You’re bigger than that. You don’t have to go down to their level and fight back, Just ignore it.”
• When something obstructs your plans, there is still a way to win
They made National Champs by not giving up.

• A little magic doesn’t hurt
“They warm up and run through the routine with their eyes closed. I have little fairy dust that I give them. My advisor did that when I was here. It’s just really fine glitter. They sit in a circle and mentally visualize the routine. The music is playing. I sprinkle them with a little good luck charm. It’s just unity. Half the battle is with your head. If you can visualize it and you’re getting it in your head, when you go out there, you think, ‘I can.”

• Teach others from your strengths
“If one girl’s not good at toe touches, another girl helps her. They help each other, build each other up. I think it’s incredible to watch,” says Laura.