“This will be my third year cheering for Cerritos College,” says dermatology major Abigail Covarrubias. The 20-year-old joined the cheer team her first semester in 2019.
Covarrubias’s first semester as a cheerleader took place before the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused a nationwide shutdown of all activity.
“Before COVID-19 learning new skills, cheers, and dances were pretty straight forward and it was easy for us to move forward with more difficult skills, but after a year off from cheer coming back was a different story.
“After a year off because of the pandemic, it was just difficult to get back into all the workouts she continued. “We started a bit off a bit slow just to get our bodies right and not move into it too quickly.”
“Having practices over Zoom was a different experience of its own, and once we came back things seemed to be a bit easier with teaching new members dances and cheers.”
Some limitations have been set for events at Cerritos College, to follow COVID-19 guidelines to resume action teams must comply with the mask mandate and other necessary protocols to prevent the spread.
Covarrubias also mentions how some sports on campus don’t have the same restrictions as cheer.
“The only thing we haven’t been able to do is stunts because for some odd reason we have been restricted from that” Covarrubias stated.
“I’m not sure as to what the reasoning behind it is since other sports don’t have limitations as to what they can and cannot do, so it’s frustrating but we are hoping to start again soon.”
Over the pandemic, many Cerritos college student-athletes grew frustrated not being able to compete in their sport in the 2020 school year.
When asked about the importance of mental health Covarrubias stated, “Maintaining your mental health is one of the most important things to do, especially in college.
“If you’re going to school full time and you’re involved in a sport, it takes a toll on not only your body but your mental state as well.”
Covarrubias states that football is her favorite sport to watch and cheer on, “I grew up watching it and I just fell in love with the sport.” Covarrubias notes that she made the varsity cheer team at John Glenn High School each of her four years.
“I’ve enjoyed them both equally in their way, in high school, I was cheering besides my best friends, in college I’ve had to make new friends, they both have their memories that I cherish,”.
“I am currently majoring in dermatology,” Covarrubias says, “at one point in my life I came across videos on youtube of Dr. Pimple Popper, and I just couldn’t take my eyes off of it. It is fascinating to me, so when it came to picking a major that was one of the options that came to mind.”
“Every sport is different, I wish more people could understand that just because we don’t throw a ball or pin people down doesn’t mean we aren’t a sport. We lift just like any other sport, we practice, toss girls in the air, and if we don’t do it right we can cause an injury” Covarrubias says when asked what spectators would understand about being in cheer.
Covarrubias says she might continue her cheerleading career at a university and will miss cheering after college, she looks forward to creating new memories in cheer and is excited for what her future may hold.
