last minute instructions before the team begins working on stunts
When you come to your first Bremerton football game this fall, whether the season opener on Friday, August 31st, at Silverdale Stadium against the Klahowya Eagles, or the home opener on Friday, September 7th, at Memorial Stadium against the Bainbridge Spartan, you will immediately notice a difference from last season.
The Knights Cheer squad occupies the entire cheer space between the fans and the football team on the sidelines.
Sixteen girls in all make up the 2007-08 Bremerton High cheer squad: seniors – Kelly Mills (captain), Ashley Gattano, and Samantha Sprague; juniors – Arieal Carpenter (returner), Bethany Hansen (returner), Collen McMillan, Olivia Patik, and Amani Williams; sophomores – Ashley Martinez, Torrie Oeser-Benton, Britney Popplewell, Carolyn Supit, and Kelsey Koets; And freshman – Michaela Craig, and Kayla Koets.
Last year’s cheer squad averaged five girls for the majority of the football season.
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DAHL |
More girls and a new cheer advisor, with a new approach, are the visual chances to the squad. But this team also displays an inner confidence, forged from hard work and success a summer camp.
“We attended USA Cheer camp at Saint Martin’s University (Lacey, Wash.),” Dahl stated. “We came home with the Unity Award, voted on by all the teams at the camp, the Spirit Stick, the most coveted award at any cheer camp, and also won 3 Superior awards - home cheer, stunting and final evaluation.
But that was not all.
Three girls, Hansen, Carpenter, and Popplewell, were named to the All-Cheer team, more than any of the other twelve teams at the camp.
“I cannot say enough about these girls,” Dahl added.
The key to Dahl’s immediate success is structure and accountability. Each girl, and their parents, was required to sign a contract of expectations and performance before they could be on the team.
“The girls understand that they are expected to be leaders in the school,” Dahl pointed out. “If they are late to practice, they run. If there are absent, they don’t get to practice. If they are not passing a class, they won’t get to participate.”
High school varsity athletic takes commitment, and Bremerton
Cheer has been practicing 2-hours a day, 5 days a week, throughout the
entire summer.
“Monday, Wednesday and Friday we are in the weight room lifting
for 30 to 45 minutes, followed by 15 minutes of ab work and/or running.”
Dahl explained.
Over the three month summer break, the girls got two week off.
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Coach
Dahl helps the team to steady Sprague while she is being lifted |
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"Kara is young and very
organized," said
high school athletic director George Duarte. "I believe she is just
the boost the squad needs right now."
Interestingly, the school did not have to go far to find their new cheer advisor. She was the Knights’ assistant junior varsity girl soccer coach and no one knew she was interested or had cheer experience. At least, the athletic director didn’t.
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DUARTE |
Shortly after the cheer advisor position opened, Duarte got a telephone call from Dahl expressing her interest in the position.
“The call caught me totally by surprise, Duarte explained, “because she had never talked about cheer, at least when I was around. I was trying to figure out some way to say that we wanted an experience coach. But the more she talked the more her past unfolded and I realized that we had a very strong candidate all ready in the building, who understood the direction Bremerton wanted to go.”
Dahl is no stranger to Bremerton or Kitsap County. A 2001 graduate of Central Kitsap High, she brought six years of cheer experience, two at CK Jr. High and four at the high school level, to the job interview. In addition, she student-taught last year at Bremerton.
After graduating from CK, Dahl traveled east to earn a Bachelor of Arts degreen in Social Studies and Education for Washington State University. She graduated this last June.
“I will here at Bremerton again this year, substitute teaching,” Dahl added. “I believe a coach is much more effective when they are in the school, watching over the girls, talking with them, and communicating with their teachers.”
Leading the Knights’ Cheer squad has not been an easy pill to swallow in the Dahl house.
“My dad, Ken Dahl, and both my brothers are CK alumni,” Dahl stated. “My dad still wears his Cougar stuff when he comes to a Bremerton game. My mother, Ginger McKenzie Wayne, on the other hand, is an East Bremerton alumnus and thinks this it great.”
But everything has not been a bed of roses for the 2007-08 Cheer squad. Dahl inherited a $3,000 deficit when she took over the program.
“On top of working hard at practice,” Dahl said, “the team has also been fundraising all summer to make up for last year, to pay for their outfits, and pay for camp. With sixteen girls, we have four times the expenses last year’s team had.”
Car washes, pastry sales, and a McDonald’s takeover are not always high income fundraisers.
The team has persevered. Last year’s cheer deficit
has been made up. Each girl has purchased her uniform. And, camp costs
have been paid.
But, there is nothing left for warm-ups.
“At the moment,” Dahl laminated, “I don’t know what to do. There is two weeks until the first game. It is going to get cold very quickly. Without warm-ups, the girls are going to freeze. Somehow, we need to raise an additional $3,000 to outfit the entire team.”
Fans, friends, family member and alumni that would like
to make a warm-up donation to the 2007-08 Cheer squad, may do so through
either the Varsity B Club (P.O. Box 285, Bremerton, WA 98337) or by bringing
their donation to the high school athletic director’s office. For
more information, Coach Dahl can be reached at (360) 204-6961.