Please contact the webmaster
if you have any comments or suggestions, or need to communicate with a Booster Club Board member. Please use "EHS C&S" in subject line or it may end up in SPAM land since it is forwarded by our
web hosting service to the webmaster's personal yahoo.com email address. If you do not receive a reply
within 48 hours, please re-send and add 2nd try to "EHS C&S"
in subject line. Thank you for your interest in the Esperanza H.S. Cheer & Song program.
If you are a
current C&S parent, please consult your information packet for phone numbers, or contact one of your
two team reps. Thank you.
The most frequently asked question (FAQ) has been,
"When are try-outs for
current 8th graders?" from mothers who's daughters are currently attending one of the middle schools that
feed EHS.
This year the JV
& Varsity Song clinic / try-outs are the week of April 21 - 25th, and the JV
& Varsity Cheer clinic / try-outs will be the following week (April 28 - May 2nd).
Stacy decided to make the Song and the Cheer try-out weeks a 4 day clinic (no practice on Wednesday both weeks.) The
final try-outs are on Friday both weeks for Song & Cheer respectively, in the gymnasium on the hardwood
floors. Stacy and all the coaches observe all week long so they know what you are capable of doing on grass, the outdoor performance mat,
and on the hardwood basketball court. Therefore, they have a reasonable idea of what you can do before the final try-out.
Typically there are 4 or 5 girls who run the audition routine at the same time during their try-out turn in the Aztec gymnasium.
However, before you can tryout, there was a parent / student
meeting on Tuesday, April 15 @ 7:00 pm in the EHS Library. Stacy Shube described the program and the tryout
process so that everyone has an equal understanding of the process. She is a full time Language Arts teacher at EHS
and has more than 17 years coaching experience at EHS plus 3 years at another school before that. She and all of our
women coaches have been Esperanza Cheer or Songleaders themselves (except Varsity Song Coach Stephanie who is a
Los Al grad) and all have been involved as a participant or coach on National Championship teams.
Stacy distributed the
applications at the 8th grade assemblies last week and at the April 15th meeting in the Library. These
applications must be completed and returned to her mailbox on either Main or West Campus, or
to her in Room C-2 on West Campus by Friday, April 18th before 2 pm in order to try out for Song or Cheer.
For incoming 2012 freshmen, do NOT give your medical release / clearance packet to Stacy Shube.
The medical clearance packet goes to Mrs. Colleen Hayashi, Athletic Secretary
(located in the Finance office on the north side of the Quad. 779-7870 Ext. 3221.) This includes
the red form, the insurance coverage form, and a photocopy of the student's personal
health insurance card front AND back. Also included is the medical exam
form that is signed and stamped with their name and address by your physician
after he/she completes your physical exam . If you do not have a medical clearance packet,
please contact Stacy Shube. sshube@pylusd.org
If your medical release
packet is not checked off by Mrs. Hayashi, the Athletic Secretary before the
Try-out clinic begins, the prospective cheer or songleader will have to sit out and watch
only - until the packet is completed and medical clearance to participate is recorded. Obviously, if you are sitting out, you can not learn the routine, and can not be observed by the coaches, so do
not lose that valuable time and exposure, jump on the MD physical ASAP. If you are not a current EHS sport team
member who is cleared until May based on last year's clearances, please make sure to see Mrs. Hayashi at the
Finance office window. She will review your forms on the spot and tell you if you need to fix something or if
your packet is in order and you are cleared. She keeps the packet of forms and emails a list, and subsequent additions
daily to Stacy.
IF the incoming freshman's parent
drops the medical clearance packet off at the main office with Mrs. Hayashi's name on a large envelope,
she will get it, but IF it is not complete you will have to go back and try to connect with her. Make
sure to leave a contact name and cell number on the envelope. A better plan is
to call her at 779-7870, Ext. 3221 to see what her hours are at the window in the Quad and hand the medical clearance
packet to Mrs. Hayashi. *** especially if your daughter is trying out for Song on April 21st.
If you get there and she is not around, then Plan B will work -drop it off at the office and ask them to put it into her mail
box. If your daughter is on campus and is not a new freshman, and is not on the current team but is trying out, she
can see Mrs. Hayashi before or after class or at lunch time, or use Plan B, drop it off at the office in an envelope with
her name on it. But remember, no medical "clearance" means no running, dancing, leaps, pirouettes, etc. when
Song try-outs start on Monday, April 21st.
The girls go through a training clinic from Monday to Friday (with
Wednesday off) where they learn the audition routine and work on turns, leaps, conditioning (bring running shoes as well as
your dance shoes), etc. if they are songleaders. Cheerleaders also learn
the audition routine, demonstrate / practice their tumbling skills & also run and stretch for conditioning.
The try-outs for Song or Cheer are on the last day, Friday in the Esperanza H.S. gymnasium (from 5 - 7 PM for Song and
4 - 6:00 pm for Cheer.) Since we perform at Pep Rallies in the gymnasium, our head coach, Stacy, needs to
make sure that the girls can perform the routine on the hardwood basketball court. The Varsity Cheerleaders and the Varsity
Songleaders trade off cheering for the men's and women's Varsity basketball teams. The Varsity squads perform
a short segment of their competition routine, a stunt and perhaps a tumbling run, at half time on the court.
The dancers are comfortable on the hardwood floors.
During competition season, the cheerleaders compete on foam mats
or spring floors like those at a gymnastics facility. If you have never seen an Advanced Show Cheer competition
routine, or an Advanced Song competition performance, come out in January 20, 2009 and watch our squads compete
at the USA Regional qualifier competition that we host at Esperanza H.S.
The cheerleader practices are outside on the performance surface / mat
on West Campus, that the C & S Booster Club purchased and had poured in October 2003 to provide our program with a cushioned
surface similar to the black-colored material (made of recycled rubber tires) that is under the swing and slide
equipment at many parks these days.
The Songleaders practice in the dance studio on main campus and
the C & S Booster Club helped fund renovations that provide excellent training facilities for our song squads. However,
on occasion when the two Varsity squads need to coordinate and practice their cheers and routines for the Varsity football
season, the songleaders join the cheerleaders for practice outside.
The Varsity squads signed up to cheer outside in the elements on
Friday nights during football season so a little sun from 2:30 PM to 5 PM after school and during the summer practices is
all part of the training and conditioning process. Cheerleaders enjoy the conditioning and the fresh
air and are used to it. This sport is the team member's Physical Education grade. Attendance and positive
attitude are important elements of their grade.
The team takes a 3 week break in the summer and that
is the only time that the girls have off, so please plan your vacations for July 28th - August 17th this
summer. Other than that week, as Stacy says, the coaches "own" your daughter for the rest of the summer.
Cheer and Song are listed on the main www.esperanzahs.com website under "Athletics / women" and are the first sport listed in all THREE seasons; Fall, Winter,
and Spring. Plus the team works out for most of the summer, as noted above. The Varsity squads (and JV Song)
have a USA Spirit camp at UC Irvine in early July and the four squads have a mandatory three day camp the week
in August on campus when they return for registration week. Stacy hires a special coaching staff to come
in to work with our team on new routine elements, dances, etc. In that Wed, Thursday, Friday camp, (August 20 - 22nd) they
learn the routines that they will perform at the end-of-summer family picnic, as well as cheers and stunts that
the training staff will teach. The four squad finale from that picnic is often performed at the Homecoming pep
rally in the Aztec Gymnasium.
Should you have further questions specific to our cheer and song program,
please write to the Head Coach, Stacy Shube at sshube@pylusd.org Thank you for your interest in the award winning Esperanza H.S. Cheer & Song program.
