On January 25th, the Jones College Prep cheer team won Chicago’s varsity competitive co-ed cheer championship. This a feat they did not imagine possible when the season began.
“I joined cheer for a sense of acceptance, knowing my place somewhere in Jones. I felt like a lost traveler at Jones, I felt like I was just here, but like I wasn’t doing anything,” said co-captain, JáLisa Jones ‘26.
After joining, cheer members developed a new outlook on life and their place within the Jones community.
“I think being surrounded with a bunch of people who really just are looking for you to succeed is such a powerful thing in itself, knowing that you have such supportive people around you all the time really just brings your high school experience to another level,” said co-captain Diego Esparza ‘26.
For an intense and fast-paced competition such as Cities, it’s necessary to surround oneself with supportive teammates with the same drive.
“With Cities, there is this kind of incentive that you have to win because now it’s not just random schools, these are the people you know, and you’re trying to prove a point about your school. So we were so hungry for that win,” said Head Captain, Micah-Loren Drinkwater ‘26. “The season was already kind of rocky. We didn’t know if we’re going up, down, or just plateauing. ”
Competitions such as Cities don’t simply help prove to other Chicago schools the power of the Jones cheer team, but also to all who doubt the legitimacy of cheer as a sport.
“There seems to be just a generalization of cheer to the spirit aspect, where we’re always at the sideline of games and cheering other people on, and we never seem to be the main attention, like the sport that people are looking at,” said Esparza. “You have to go through so much preparation and practice, making sure that you’re doing everything to the best of your capabilities.”
All of the preparation paid off in the end as the team went from significant stress to a state of euphoria.
“After you compete, you come back out with teams you competed against and from other divisions. It’s really nerve-wracking. When they announced our team winning, it felt like a dream, like I was in a bubble. I was like, why is everything turning pink? It was magical and very surreal,” said Jones.
The joy of competing with one’s fellow teammates and the bonds created throughout the season would remain no matter the outcome of the competition.
“Even if we didn’t win city champs, and if we never won a day in our lives I will forever love my team. Always have, always will, and nothing can really express how grateful I am to be their captain, their teammate, and to always be by their side even when we got that win,” said Drinkwater.
Despite significant doubts, an outstanding win was captured, which brings, many hopes for the future of cheer at Jones.
“We were once at a spot where we had to fight for people to be on the team. And now people gladly want to be on the team,” said Drinkwater. “I want that to keep happening over the years. I want to really show people, hey we’re here, we’re here to stay, and yes for the last time we are an actual sport.”
