This football season, there are five home games, but only three pep rallies.
“In past years, student participation and excitement have declined,” cheer coach Brynn Huner said. “We don’t want to take away class time if students aren’t engaged. If we can spark more involvement [this year], we hope to see more pep rallies approved in the future.”
This is Huner’s first year of coaching cheer at the school, and she is loving it so far.
“It’s been amazing,” Huner said. “I truly love this team, the sport and the Lampasas community. I’ve enjoyed learning the traditions here while also adding some of my own to the program. I believe this will be a year to remember, filled with special memories and opportunities to positively impact my athletes by giving them the tools they need for success both on and off the mat.”
Even though there are not as many pep rallies this year, each one still takes a while to plan and put together.
“I’ve personally been working on [the pep rallies] since June,” Huner said. “We began introducing pieces of the pep rallies during the first week of practice, but won’t dive into full rehearsals until about two weeks out, so the routines stay fresh in the athletes’ minds while balancing everything else they learn throughout the year.”
The first pep rally is Friday.
“We have been prepping for a few weeks,” freshman cheerleader Madeline Sumner said. “[Having fewer pep rallies] allows more time to perfect the cheers, but I wish there were more pep rallies.”
Senior Flames Colonel Mia Bazaldua is disappointed about the decision for less pep rallies, but also grateful for the extra time it has made room for.
“I think [pep rallies are] a great way to improve school spirit, so there only being three is a little bit of a letdown,” Bazaldua said. “However, when we had pep rallies for every home game, we spent our practices learning and cleaning our routines for pep rallies. With lessening the amount of pep rallies, we were able to learn all of our routines during the summer. We have also been able to focus on techniques and competition routines in August that we usually don’t start until November or December.”
Another change besides reducing the number of pep rallies is that different spirit groups like Flames, Band and Color Guard will be more involved and all work collectively to put on the pep rally.
“The purpose of a pep rally is to build excitement for the upcoming football game,” Huner said. “By bringing all spirit groups together, we can create an atmosphere that truly reflects that goal. I believe collaboration will amplify school pride and help generate the kind of excitement that gets students in the stands supporting our teams.”
As a Flame, Bazaldua can’t wait for everyone to come together for the pep rallies — students as well as spirit groups.
“I think this is such a great addition and a great way to bring these groups together when, during pep rallies, we’re usually our own entities,” Bazaldua said. “I think changing the pep rallies from what we have done in the past is exactly what the school needs.”
