This month’s athlete of the issue goes to Hart’s varsity cheerleader, Emma Hand. Hand has been participating in competitive cheerleading for 12 years. In addition, all four years she has been attending Hart, she has cheered as a flyer. Students sitting in the student section at football games may have even seen her performing her stunts and getting the crowd pumped up along with her squad. 

“Emma is a very talented athlete. she works hard and always strives to perform at a high level” Said her Coach Wanjon 

“When I was little, my best friend was in cheer and her mom convinced my mom to put me in a class and I was good at it so my mom thought why not?” Said Hand of her start in cheerleading.

In her 12 years of cheerleading, Hand’s favorite memory is winning the Summit National Championship in 2015. The 2015 championship was her first time participating in a competition. In addition to experiencing a lot of high moments in her cheer career, Hand has also had a lot of challenges. 

“A few years back I was given the opportunity to step up and be put on a higher level team and there were some things that I needed to perform that I didn’t have I didn’t [yet] have the skills [for,] and trying to get those skills [was] a task that I found challenging, but I did it.”

Hand has a few major goals for the remainder of her senior year. 

“[I look forward to] keeping my grades up while being a productive team member and athlete,” said Hand.

“[After I graduate,] I’ll definitely miss my friends and the tight group I have right now. We’re all kind of going away so I’ll definitely miss that and of course [I’ll miss] the cheer team. I’m just starting to get to know the freshman on the team,” said Hand. 

 Hand also looks forward to the future plans and goals she has for after high school. Hand hopes to attend the University of Alabama and hopefully continue her cheerleading career in college.