As Gianna Taaffe, a sophomore Struthers High School cheerleader, completes her first   football season, she looks forward to cheering on the basketball team and learning the new things that come with it. 

Although this is Taaffe’s first year cheering in high school, she has gained some experience cheering for the Struthers Hardhats. Taaffe competed in many cheer competitions before she stopped in middle school, giving her some exposure to the cheer world. 

The cheerleader feels that her past years of cheering is what brought her back to the team this year. 

“I cheered for five years when I was younger, this year will be my sixth. I really missed the sport itself and pushing myself to bring my best for my team,” says Taaffe.

The Struthers Wildcat has just finished her first high school football season and looks forward to something she has never done: basketball cheer. Taaffe knows that this season is not what she is used to since she will be cheering for different people and in a different environment.

Taaffe looks back on last Spring’s tryouts to examine what made her want to take on this new challenge. 

“I think basketball is a pretty intense and exciting sport. It’s a lot more fast paced than football. Also, I really wanted to cheer for my favorite people and during basketball season you are a lot closer to the players than in football season,” says Taaffe.

The sophomore had to practice extensively during tryouts to secure her spot on the squad. That hard work allowed her to make varsity for basketball cheerleading.

Taaffe looks forward to enjoying this season by watching all of her hard work pay off. 

“I’m looking forward to basketball season because I am on varsity, and there are a lot more games. I’m excited for it to keep me on my toes because of the intensity and the amount of people watching at varsity games,” says Taaffe. 

Taaffe feels grateful for the friends she has made, her big role within the school and feeling the old memories rush back to her when evaluating her first year back as a cheerleader.