There’s always ‘room to grow and improve in cheer’

Cheerleaders from Waterford District High School, Simcoe Composite School, Delhi District Secondary School and Valley Heights Secondary School competed in Waterford for the 2026 Norfolk Invitational Cheerleading Championship. 

Chris Abbott

Editor

Alison High, Valley Heights Secondary School principal and cheerleading coach, received special recognition May 6th at the Norfolk Invitational Cheerleading Championship in Waterford.

A long-time cheer coach, High will be retiring this year from her administration position at VHSS, but plans to continue coaching the Bears... at least for one more year.

“I’m retiring from work, not cheer,” High smiled. “I’ll coach for another year, for sure.

“What I love about the sport is that it is the epitome of team sport. You can’t just pull one person out and have things be the same. There’s no subs in cheerleading. So you have to develop the relationships between your athletes, the trust has to come – that part of it is so huge.”

And those elements take a long time to build.

“There are entry points for every different level of cheerleader. Not everyone on the floor can do a standing back tuck – and that’s okay. You can find a place for everybody, for everybody’s strength, on the team, and I love that.

“I love being able to watch them grow. Them come in Grade 9 and they’re new and they’re nervous, and to watch them go through the years and then when they graduate… they take more away from this than I think we even know. Just in terms of friendships, the relationships, conflict resolution, all of it.

“So I think that’s what I love about it.”

The growth in the team from their first performances at Langton and Houghton fairs, to the Norfolk County Fair, then a new routine for the Norfolk Invitational, was truly impressive. The routine had pace, energy and sizzle.

“I was pretty proud of them,” High nodded. “The growth we saw… there’s no end to it. It’s pretty awesome. And I like that because nothing is ever really ‘finished.’ There is always room to grow, there is always room to improve, and I like that.”

The VHSS cheer team, which had about 20 members at the Norfolk Fair, grew to 29 for the remainder of the season, with 28 on the floor in Waterford.

“And nine of my girls played a soccer game at 2 o’clock this afternoon. So they had soccer from 2-3:30, came in, wiped the mud off, then cheered.

“That’s cheer and that’s what I love about it.”