They started as the underdogs at this school. A lot of students were doubting their ability to be good this year due to past cheer teams here at San Tan Foothills. In my opinion they proved everyone wrong. They are one of the most determined, dedicated, hardworking group of girls I have ever coached. I believe their peers doubting they help the strive to be better.”

Calamari shows much pride for the team and will have the cheer team very active this year. She will have them cheer at home and away basketball and football games. She also is having them compete in USA Regional qualifier on November 19th, the AIA regional state qualifier on December 3rd where our Sabercat cheerleaders have a chance to qualify for the AIA state competition which will be in January or February. These competitions are completely new to our school cheerleading team. Their biggest event, however, is USA National competition in Anaheim, California in March.

With all these huge events coming into the hands of our Cheerleading team, Calamari has expectations for the cheer team. “My expectations for the girls are for them to be the best they can possibly be and to always give 100% at any game, event, or competition. Our goals as a team are to qualify for AIA state which would mean placing top ten in our division and to qualify for the USA National competition! I set the bar pretty high for their first year of competition but with the drive these girls have I know they are capable of achieving these goals!”

With the cheer team coming into the hands of Calamari, we asked her, What is your biggest surprise from the cheer team?”. She replied with, “My biggest surprise this season has been how excited these girls are to learn and grow as cheerleaders. I was a little skeptical coming into coaching here because I know previous years have been rough but they are incredible athletes who are really just trying to prove to themselves how good they can be!”

These incredible athletes had the opportunity to vote for their captains, and happily chose Julia Sierra and Trelise Wheeler. Calamari approved of these captains and even said, “I believe it’s because they both show great leadership and always have positive attitudes!”

Ms. Calamari ended our conversation by saying, “Overall I am beyond excited to see what these girls achieve this season! They have already grown so much in such little time, there is so much more to come!”. San Tan Foothills shares her excitement for the new year and the opportunities to come for the Cheer Team.