The squad placed seventh in last year's national competition.

If the New Iberia Senior High cheerleaders were the new kids on the block last year at the UCA National High School Cheerleading Championship in Orlando, Fl., this year the squad is coming in as experienced veterans.

After making it all the way to the finals last season and finishing in seventh place, the NISH cheer squad has its collective attention on a more ambitious goal in 2024.

“Our eyes have been on Top-3 all year,” said cheer captain Ava Snay. “I think that it should be a little easier to reach now that we’re in Small Division. We have the maximum amount of girls allowed, so that will help our voice projections and all of that.”

NISH did well at regionals this year, earning gold in Hammond and a return ticket to Disney World despite suffering a potentially season-ending situation just before the competition.

“We had two girls that got injured, one two weeks before regionals and one the week of, so we had to make some quick changes and switch to Small Division,” explained Snay. “That got us a bid, but we had some struggles that eventually made us a stronger squad. Everything happens for a reason.”

The change has the potential to cause the squad a few serious problems. With a new routine getting implemented back in August, changes needed to be made fast if the girls wanted a chance to improve on last year’s finish. According to Snay, their bond pulled them through.

“It affected practice times and schedules, of course, along with the plans that we had for those weeks leading up to regionals, but we’re really close so we just leaned on one another and pushed through everything.”

A first place finish at regionals did a lot to help settle the team’s nerves. Despite competing in a new division, the performances will still be the same. Each team will perform four different cheers: a band chant, a situational sideline, a cheer and a fight song. Judging is based on a combination of technical skills and the squad’s ability to engage the crowd and exhibit school spirit.

The squad’s only senior, Katelyn Myers, said that the group is expecting a good result this season.

“We are confident. Last year we were in the medium division and we think we might have less competition this year,” Myers said. “We’ve been watching some of the other team’s videos and we think we have a good chance. We placed first in our regional competition in Hammond a few weeks ago.”

Last year, the squad hired an outside consultant to choreograph their routine, a process that began over the summer break. This year, they kept the job in-house.

Last year we hired people to come in and teach us but this year Kristen (Romero, NISH cheer coach) and Ava made it up themselves,” said Meyers. “We learned it at the beginning of the school year and we’ve just been practicing it and making changes all year.”

With just one senior on the roster this year, the NISH squad has had to rely on several underclassmen in key areas. Snay, a junior, said this year’s group might just be the best she’s seen.

“We have a lot of freshmen and sophomores and they’re taking to the routine very well,” she said. “They’re probably the best group of freshmen, they’re such talented young women.”

Fans can keep up with the squad’s progress at this year’s national competition by following the team on Facebook. The Daily Iberian will also post regular updates on our own social media channels.