After a season of ups and downs, the MHS cheerleading team has begun the process of a brand new season. The beginning of April marked the open gym season for the cheerleaders and the start of the tryout process.

“[The purpose of open gyms is] to generate interest in cheerleading as well as allow athletes to practice their skills prior to tryouts,” said Becca Kassebaum, varsity coach.

The cheerleaders themselves often enjoy this part of the season.

“Open gyms are a more fun way [than the regular season] to practice your skills because there’s less pressure and more time to experiment,” said Delaney Appelhans, junior.

While the open gym season is seen as more laid back, there are actually two sides to it. The laid back approach is one side.  For other cheerleaders, they see it as the start of a new season only weeks after the previous one has ended.

“We really have no off-season,” said Alexa Auld, senior. “Even though the past season was my last one, I’m still expected to come in during open gyms and help choreograph and teach a tryout routine.”

According to returning and new cheerleaders alike, open gym season is a chance to get a preview of how the new season might go.

“We definitely scope out the new talent in the strangers that show up at open gyms,” said Auld. “You can tell who has talent from what they’re putting out at open gyms. Even though it’s a relaxed environment, everyone is expected to be working on their skills for tryouts.”

The MHS cheer program advertises their open gyms to the surrounding middle schools, drawing in incoming freshmen from Fremont, Carl Sandburg and West Oak middle schools.

“I think the open gyms are a nice way to prepare incoming freshmen and future cheerleaders for the MHS program,” said Appelhans. “The incoming freshmen have a lot of potential and are ultimately the future of our program. It’s important that they get a taste of Mundelein cheer.”

Returning cheerleaders often use this time to try new skills, oftentimes ones that aren’t allowed in competition routines. Sometimes, this even draws old cheerleaders to the North Gym, where they execute difficult stunts.

“I’m thinking about showing up to a couple open gyms, so I can just throw a couple of fun stunts around,” said Isac Banuelos, senior. “I can do ‘illegal’ stunts for fun since it’s not being put in a competition routine. I know other old cheerleaders come back, too, even ones that are in college.”

Since the teams are put together with the primary goal of creating a competitive team for competition season, the skills executed at open gyms and tryouts are ultimately geared toward this aspect of cheerleading rather than the school spirit side of cheering seen on the sidelines at games.

The cheerleading program currently has three levels: the JV B team, the JV A team, and the varsity team. These teams are open to all high school students, male or female, freshmen to seniors.

“We don’t have set requirements for each level,” said Kassebaum. “We have a tryout that looks at jumps, stunts, tumbling, motions, voice projection and dance on a score-based system, giving different scores depending on what skills are performed.”
Open gyms are scheduled for Tuesdays and Thursdays in the North Gym from 6-8 p.m., and are open to any incoming freshmen or current high school students. Tryouts will be held May 9, 12, and 13 in the North Gym.