Gianna Taaffe is a junior cheerleader on the varsity team for the Struthers Wildcats. She is a great tumbler and a strong base for the team.
Being older and almost getting to the senior mark is sad for a lot of athletes because sports come to an end. Taaffe has a big love and heart for her school.
Cheering for Taaffe is something that makes her who she is, and she loves being around the atmosphere.
“I cheer because it allows me to show my love for the school, I love being able to support the boys. I also cheer because it allows me to make my younger self happy,” says the cheerleader.
She used to cheer for the Struthers Little Hardhats when she was younger and has cheered for the high school for the past 2 years. Taaffe and her team has a big strong bond that is like a family.
When the season comes to an end, there is already a group of seniors that gets a goodbye. It can be challenging since the team is one big family and so close.
“Of course I am upset about the season ending. I have only been cheering for 2 years in high school but cheer makes me happy. It allows the teams to come together and cheering just has such a good feeling and I make the most memories cheering,” says Taaffe.
Getting defeated is never easy on a person, especially a cheerleader who has to learn mentally challenging skills throughout the season. Keeping up the energy is a hard goal to do all the time as well.
They do make an effort to overcome challenges and obstacles that get in their way.
“A huge challenge typically is the idea of defeat, not during games, but when we practice for competition and other things. It’s easy to get defeated if it doesn’t go right the first time, but I have had to realize the idea of patience, which helps a lot in cheer,” says the varsity cheerleader.
