Heartland’s last cheerleader squad from 1999/2000: Bottom row L to R: Cami Friesen Buller, Tessa Franz Glinsmann; 2nd row: Amanda Gray, Stacey Hiebner Yost; 3rd row: Janell Folkerts, Kimberly Epp Keys, and Abbie Friesen – courtesy photo.
It’s been 25 years since Heartland had a cheerleading program. But with the new sports cooperative with Hampton, it’s coming back! Its comeback has generated excitement at Heartland and hopes of increased school spirit like the good old days!
The newly christened H&H Bearcats will have a new cheerleading squad comprised of girls from Hampton and Heartland for next year. The cheerleader coaches were just announced: Jessa Klute from Hampton will be the head coach, and Amy Pinney from Heartland will be the assistant coach.
Tryout forms have been distributed at both schools with practice dates and an actual tryout date for Monday, April 14th, at 6:30 p.m. at Hampton, when the new H&H cheerleaders will be chosen.
So, what happened to the Heartland cheerleading program? We caught up with a few cheerleaders from the last Henderson and Heartland cheerleaders to find out.
Henderson Community Schools was consolidated with Bradshaw in 1998, and Heartland Community Schools was formed. A few years later, for various reasons, Heartland ended its cheerleading squad.
Andrea Friesen Wall, a senior in the first year of the consolidation, remembers, “It was difficult, but Tamara Kliewer from Bradshaw and I co-led the team, working hard to bring it together. We attended the UNL Cheer Camp the summer before, which really helped us bond.”
Another cheerleader on both those squads was Tessa Franz Glinsmann, who remembers how special her time as a cheerleader was.
“I loved being a cheerleader! Everything from wearing my uniform to school on game days, having admission and rides to all the games, standing out in front of the crowd trying to get them excited whether we were winning or losing, doing dance routines at halftime, and spending time talking and laughing with the girls.”
They are both excited about the opportunity for girls to try out for cheerleading and see it come back to Heartland.
The 1998-99 first ever Heartland Cheerleaders having some fun! Top row: L to R: Cami Friesen Buller, Stacey Hiebner Yost Tamera Kliewer Weins, and Andrea Friesen Wall; Bottom row L to R: Elizabeth Highstreet Brown, Meggan Kroeker Linck, Amanda Gray Weins, Tessa Franz Glinsmann, and Janell Folkerts – courtesy photo
So what happened? Tessa believes the culture at that time didn’t embrace cheerleaders as much, and the team didn’t seem as motivated to practice as much as was needed. Cindy Huebert, a Heartland elementary teacher, had been the cheerleading sponsor for many years and retired as their sponsor in 1998.
Stacey Hiebner Yost remembers her time cheerleading from her freshman year through her junior year when Heartland’s cheerleading ended. “My sophomore and junior years, we didn’t have a sponsor. The administration basically said we could still have cheerleading after Cindy left, but we had to run it ourselves. Of course, as students, that didn’t work out, so cheerleading died out,” said Stacey.
Tessa agreed that it was difficult for the program to continue and attract younger girls to try out without a sponsor or coach.
In previous years, the cheerleaders had attracted younger girls by holding an annual elementary cheer camp on the day of a home basketball game. Andrea remembers when she participated in one of these camps.
“I really loved the dance part of cheerleading. I remember as a kid in elementary school when my cousin Tara Friesen now Maltsberger was on the squad – I envied her huge white pom poms and couldn’t wait to be a cheerleader. We had a cheer camp the day of a home game, and we got to perform to a Janet Jackson song during halftime. It was so exciting.”
Bringing cheerleading back to Heartland will definitely be one of the positive outcomes from the H&H sports cooperative with Hampton. We look forward to reporting back about who will be cheering for H&H after the tryouts are held tonight! GO-FIGHT-WIN BEARCATS!
