After not fielding a team for 2020-21, the Pojoaque Valley cheer program returned to action last year.
The Elkettes team finished 11th at the 2022 state spirit competition. And now a team nearly 20 strong, with nine seniors, looks to rebuild a program for a new school year.
“Any type of last-minute changes that needed to be made were made,” said senior Hailey Gallegos. “And we made it work no matter what was thrown at us.”
Team coach Cassie Martinez returns for a second year with the high school program. She revived the team last year after spending several years with the youth program.
“I learned a lot (last year),” she said. “Coming into this year, we started earlier. I just feel like we’re a little bit more ahead of the game than we were last year. So, I feel really good about it.”
Seniors such as Gallegos, Lexi Aragon and Ace Ortiz, have been in Pojoaque cheer teams since kindergarten, moving through the Pojoaque Crush program until now in their senior year.
Pojoaque is currently preparing for the start of football season, where they will be back on the sideline supporting the Elks.
“These girls, we support all the teams,” Martinez said. “Just cheer them on, support them, and show them that they’ve got people behind them cheering for them. It’s important, just that they do their job.”
“The excitement that builds up before each game, it makes it a really fun environment,” Oritz said. “Everyone’s just so excited to be able to be out on the field and cheering.”
Pojoaque also will look to improve their competition results over the year.
“Pojoaque cheer doesn’t really have the best rep,” Aragon said. “We want to make a change this year, and make everything better for all of us.”
But the seniors have bright hopes for the future of the team while they look to inspire the community through sports.
“This year, we kind of get a new start,” Aragon said. “Just because, in a way, everything is going to get better from right here where we’re at. And I think we have a lot of new opportunities that are coming up now. So, I think it’s going to be a way better year for us.”