Robinson’s cheer team is inching closing and closer to states. The 2012 Robinson cheer team won the  FHSAA 1A State Finals making it one of the two teams in Robinson’s cheer history to receive the state championship rings. But, since then the program has not yet been able to match the level of success that those teams have had.

The RHS cheer team got a new coach this year which captain and back spot Rachel Steinfeld (‘21) believes was not an issue.

“With our new coach we practiced a lot more and our practices are more organized. We get a lot more done and our stunts are harder,” Steinfeld said.

Not only does the cheer team have a new coach teaching them a high difficulty level of new stunts and tumbling, but they have new freshmen that need to learn them.

“This year was harder because we lost a lot of people last year because they were all seniors,” Junior captain and base Sabrina Takagishi pointed out two people in particular that really stood out this season.

“I think our 2 senior captains Avriel James and Iyana Maggio really helped us out because as we’ve been transitioning with a new coach they really incorporated last year’s ideas and this year’s to really make it a smooth transition,” Takagishi said.

Robinson’s cheer team has been working towards both personal and collaborative goals throughout the whole season.

“Our team goal this year was to make a name for ourselves because in past years we haven’t had the best standings with other teams,” Takagishi said. “So this year we wanted to make sure teams knew that we were good and make a good reputation with everyone.”

Takagishi also focused on some goals for herself going into the competition season.

“My personal goal this year as a junior captain was just to make sure everyone was like in it and everyone was positive throughout the season”, Takagishi said.

Their next step is towards regionals in Plant City. They are feeling confident going into their next competition which is Saturday the 24th.

“I feel we are at a really good position right now because we have the basics down. Our coach is really setting us up well for states in order to make sure we perform our best.” Takagishi said.