Two state titles in tow; Davie High cheerleaders headed to nationals
Published 9:17 pm Wednesday, February 8, 2023
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By Mike Barnhardt
Enterprise Record
Angela Stage has won so many state championships as coach of the Davie High School Competition Cheerleading team that she has trouble keeping count.
In her 20 years of coaching, she says there’s at least 16 state titles.
This year’s team – a young one – didn’t disappoint as they brought two such championships: the N.C. High School Athletic Association and the N.C. Cheerleading Coaches Association.
“We just love cheerleading,” Stage said. “The senior leadership has definitely been an asset. We started young and inexperienced and they continue to push to make sure we are ready for the national level.”
It makes it more important for the seniors because they lost some competition time because of COVID, she said.
Team members cite the family atmosphere and the desire to get better as reasons they love competing with the team.
Seniors Ava Brooke Smith, Reed Marion, Alysa Perry and Cayden Brown talk about the bond among the cheerleading team members.
– Photo by Mike Barnhardt
“I love the bond we have as a team,” said Alysa Perry, who hopes to cheer for Appalachian State next year as she majors in animal studies, in hopes of becoming a zoologist.
Alysa has been cheering since she was 3, so life without it would be a big change. She is the daughter of Phil and Tosha Perry of Clemmons.
Ava Brooke Smith is another senior headed to App State, planning to major in elementary special education.
She has been competition cheering for 10 years, and said she began after a friend of her mother saw her doing flips and suggested she try out cheerleading. She is the daughter of Doug and Lori Smith of Advance.
“We’re doing it for ourselves,” Ava Brooke said, “but when we win, it’s a team winning.”
Reed Marion of Mocksville, daughter of Lori Marion and Scott Marion, plans to study nursing at UNC Chapel Hill.
“The bond we all have, we’re all best friends,” she said of the high school team. “We can call each other at any time.”
She has been a cheerleader for eight years.
Cayden Brown is another senior who hopes to further her cheerleading career when she attends Louisiana State University in the fall to study nursing. She is the daughter of Tyrone and Commeka Spratt.
“I started when I was 2,” she said. “I would watch videos and I wanted to be like that. I’ve been cheerleading ever since.”
She loves the team spirit on the Davie team.
That team spirit was already there when she took the helm 20 years ago, Stage said. She’s just helping to keep a proud tradition going.
