“If I could clone her, I would clone a whole bunch of Alexes. She’s one of the hardest-working kids I’ve seen in my coaching career.”
Amy Braswell
Centerville cheerleading coach
CENTERVILLE — Alex Pierce is looking to extend her cheerleading career as long as she can.
The former Centerville varsity and competition cheerleader plans to try out for the University of South Carolina cheerleading squad in August for the second time.
Pierce, 18, hopes this effort will garner stronger results.
“I tried out in April, but I didn’t make the final cut,” she said. “I decided I’d still try out in the fall because I thought I might as well give it another shot.”
Although the 2009 Centerville grad didn’t receive the final result she was looking for during her first tryout, Pierce was given encouraging words from South Carolina cheerleading, coach Erika Goodwin.
“(Goodwin) said she would like to see me at the fall tryout,” said Pierce, who didn’t plan on trying out a second time. “Even though my scores weren’t high enough, she said she wanted me to work on my stunting. That call basically changed my perspective completely.”
Stunting 101
Because stunting is banned in the Greater Western Ohio Conference, Pierce is spending most of her summer in the gym trying to perfect the common NCAA routine. Stunting is a move when one lifts and supports another in the air.
“(Stunting) is huge in college, so I have to take a lot of classes with other guys that have stunted in college,” Pierce said.
Centerville cheerleading coach Amy Braswell agreed that the biggest jump to college level is in stunting.
“Most high schools around are called ‘ground pound,’ which means they can’t stunt,” she said. “That’s going to be the biggest difference heading into college cheerleading.”
Time well spent
After coaching Pierce for four years at Centerville, Braswell wishes there were more hard workers like her.
“If I could clone her, I would clone a whole bunch of Alexes,” Braswell said. “She’s one of the hardest-working kids I’ve seen in my coaching career.”
Pierce helped the Centerville competition team win a national event in the Universal Cheerleaders Association National High School Cheerleading Championships during her junior and senior years. She earned second-team All-GWOC honors during her senior year. Pierce said her time cheerleading at Centerville was amazing.
“I had a lot of fun through that program,” Pierce said. “I’ve been cheering with most of the same girls from my squad since the third grade. We were all so close that by the time we went to high school we were one big family. It was fun to see what we all could do with the program.”
Pierce, who has been involved in cheerleading since she was 9, said she didn’t enjoy cheerleading when first introduced.
“The first year I did cheerleading I hated it,” Pierce said. “There were a lot of games and it was really hot. I didn’t know that there was that much more to it other than yelling. I guess I thought it was a little boring.”
South Carolina has always held a place in Pierce’s thoughts. Her family moved to Ohio from South Carolina when Pierce was in the second grade. Pierce said the fall tryout for the squad is set for Aug. 21-22.
“I’ve always thought of it as a home away from home,” she said.
About the Author