Rain gives Samo cheerleaders home court advantage

Alice KorsStaff WriterFor the first time in Samo cheer history, the CIF championships were held in the North Gym. Originally the competition was held at the Home Depot Center, an outdoor stadium; however, due to heavy rainfall, officials decided to move the competition to Samo. This sudden change left coaches, parents and staff of the United Cheer Association (UCA) scrambling to put all the pieces together.“It was horrible. It got rained out of the Home Depot, and I kind of know the director of UCA, so I volunteered Samo as more of a joke — but he wanted to do it. We went forward with it, and it was a lot of work because we did it all in two days,” cheer coach Amy Meadors said. “They did a lot of the planning; I was the more of the contact on this end. I had to do all of the grunt work, running around getting things signed and being the go-between for all of these people. It was way more stressful on my part, but I’m glad it was here.”The change in location gave Samo a kind of "home-court," or in this case, "home-mat" advantage. Gold Varsity cheerleader Chloe Abarbanel said it felt better to compete at home."It wasn't as nerve-wracking being backstage. We thought, 'Okay, it's just like doing a half-time performance.' We were in our own gym, we knew where we were. It's scarier when you go to a new place and you're about to go onto a stage you've never been on before," Abarbanel said. "It really helped to be at home."Cheer scored well against some very fierce competition. This year, Samo's top competitor, El Dorado, was the toughest in their division.“[El Dorado] is probably the best team in all of California right now in everyday divisions; they’re very skilled. They’re just amazing,” Meadors said. Unforunately, Gold Varisty fell just short of the points needed to win, taking second place. However, the team kept its optimism, as this score was a major improvement from previous competitions.“It was really only a six or seven point difference, which was really great because at regionals they beat us by 22 points,” Meadors said.Although the varsity team suffered a loss, the junior varsity teams Blue and White were still victorious, winning first place in their divisions."We really proud and happy for our JV teams that did win, and we're proud that we were able to have such a small point difference because [El Dorado] is such a good team," cheer captain Mariah Sharp said. "Just to say that we placed only a couple of points beneath them is a really big accomplishment."Abarbanel sees it as a confidence-building win for the JV teams. "Last year, when I was on blue and we won, it was a morale booster," she said. "It's good if Gold wins, but if Blue or White wins it's like knowing that they've got the skills to win, and going to other competitions you're more comfortable."akors@thesamohi.com