The Mini-Me’s: Playing for the “Lancers” teams in middle school helped current East students get a background for high school football and cheer, even though these teams aren’t associated with East

Standing in the wrestling gym at their first cheer practice of the season, freshman cheerleaders
prepare to learn the basics of cheer — learning how to do motions, jumps and how to stunt.

Since some girls entering the program had no cheerleading experience, this is the first time they’re learning the basics that’ll be in their various cheers and band dances.

But for six of the sophomores, including sophomore Taylor Borchers, mastering the routines is a breeze. This isn’t their first time cheering, or on the sidelines rooting for the Lancers — they were on the Kansas City Football and Cheer Association middle school cheer team.

Sophomore Hayden Falley was also a step ahead, having played on the middle school football team and now at East. He learned things like how to run plays, which prepared him for high school football.

“We were an East-based team,” Falley said. “So we had East jerseys, East helmets, [former] East coaching staff and we ran the same offensive plays [as East]. All of this was there to get us ready for high school. We were basically just playing as a high school team but on a smaller scale.”

KCFC allows cheerleaders to experience the gameday side of cheer. It also teaches football players the basics of football, such as how to run plays before playing in high school.

All of the football and cheer teams are formed based on age and which high school they’re closest to. Even though the program isn’t associated with East, their team mascot is the Lancer — as the teams mainly consist of future East students. The cheer and football teams played at the same time, supporting each other on the field. From there, they all moved onto high school, still cheering and playing with one another.

This program allowed for a smoother transition from middle school to high school, according to sophomore Jack Kessler.

“[One] important thing in middle school to learn is just how to tackle,” Kessler said. “That will set you up really good for high school. So we did a lot of tackling drills, learning how to tackle safely and properly. And I think that was the biggest thing because I’m a linebacker now in high school, so instead of wasting time learning how to tackle, I’ve been tackling the right way for a long time.”

For students like Borchers who had never cheered before, the middle school team was a way to become acclimated to the sport so she didn’t feel as lost in the chaos of a competition team.

Middle school practices consisted of learning the basics of cheer, like figuring out their stunting positions and how to stunt safely. They also learned different stretches, such as sitting in a straddle against a wall, to improve their jumps. Borchers still uses these techniques today.

“Being on the team in middle school kind of opened my eyes to what cheer really was,” Borchers said. “I thought it was just a bunch of yelling, shaking your poms and having a positive attitude, but there’s a lot going into it, like different types of stunts, tumbling and jumps. If I hadn’t cheered in middle school, I probably wouldn’t have seen everything that goes into it.”

The expectations of the teams increased with age, according to sophomore cheerleader Kylie Chaplin. Attendance was pretty lenient, but now at the high school level, cheerleaders are expected to run laps if they’re late.

Middle school served as a “trial period,” where people could play both sides of positions or switch around stunting positions, according to Kessler. However, that’s rarely the case anymore. High school practices are focused on specializing in positions and doing more challenging conditioning drills, according to Falley.

“In middle school, your dads are coaching,” Falley said. “It’s a lot less serious. High school is more important, you have an actual coaching staff and there’s a large amount of fans at your games, it’s [much] more official.”

The difference between cheering at middle and high school football games is also noticeable, according to sophomore cheerleader Riley Moore. The games in middle school were overall unorganized, according to Moore. The girls had to stand right on the field sidelines because there wasn’t a track to stand on. They weren’t allowed to stunt unless it was during a quarter, and they weren’t allowed to face the crowd to do their cheers during the game.

“At football games, people would turn around and talk to each other,” Moore said. “It was very low pressure, talking was no big deal.”

Since most of the teams have been playing and cheering with the same people for so long, they’ve been able to watch each other grow. From doing more difficult stunts at quarters to getting taller and stronger, being together for so long has allowed them to be comfortable with each other as a team and celebrate each other’s accomplishments, according to Borchers.

“[Most] of my friends from the middle school team tried out for high school cheer,” Borchers said. “So from tryouts, to practices now, it’s comforting to have that support system and have all of these people here to help me when I need it.”