SCA Cheer Squad Powers a Legacy of Sisterhood

At Saint Catherine Academy here in Belize City, school spirit is more than a motto; it’s a heartbeat, powered in no small part by the energy of the SCA Cheer Squad. You may know SCA for its powerhouse volleyball team that’s been racking up trophies for nearly three decades, but behind every win is a group of dedicated young women lifting their athletes, and each other, every step of the way. In tonight’s edition of Kolcha Tuesday, we take you inside the school where sisterhood fuels success. News Five’s Britney Gordon has the story.

 

Britney Gordon, Reporting

At the Saint Catherine Academy gym, the crowd may bring the noise, but it’s the cheer team that brings the fire. For more than twenty years, these spirited athletes have rallied behind every SCA sports team, keeping the energy high and giving players that extra push when it matters most. And guiding them is teacher Tamera Locke, a former SCA cheerleader herself, who now coaches the squad to step out with confidence every time they pull on their uniforms and grab their pom‑poms.

 

Tamera Locke, Cheer Moderator

“The cheer team is like the main support team system here at SCA so we get them ready through preparation. So it’s not just a one season just for one sport. The cheer team is an all year-round sport. So we have them practice from summer. So they have their summer practice where they come in and they do cheers. They get ready for pep rallies because that’s part of their job as well. They do pep rallies, get the school ready for games before the season starts, and then they go to the games themself and they cheer for them. with as much joy has they have.”

 

The squad is now twenty‑five girls strong, representing all four academic levels, and getting a spot on that lineup is no walk‑in. Every hopeful must push through a series of drills that test not just their athletic ability, but their commitment and their sense of responsibility. It’s all designed to make sure that when these girls step out on the court, they’re more than performers, they’re the voice that fires up the entire student body.

 

Tamera Locke

“It’s important because the team needs that support and sometimes the entire school can’t make it. And so we have a represented representation of the school here. And so the cheers, the cheerleaders, they do just that. They’re just the main support, the heart of the school.”

 

Seventeen-year-old Kalise Kisling isn’t spending her birthday with cake and candles, she’s spending it on the court, getting her squad game‑ready. As team captain, and a proud member of the cheer squad since her freshman year, Kalise sees every matchup as a chance to pump up school spirit and build even stronger bonds with the girls she leads.

 

Kalise Kisling, Captain, SCA Cheerleaders

“I feel as though we play  a very strong role in the student like school spirit section. There are days whereby it’s just us supporting our team. So I feel we don’t miss a game. And even if the student body is not able to come out, then we are always there to give the team that the moral sport that they need.”

 

For thirty straight years, SCA has dominated the Central Secondary Schools Sports Association Girls’ Volleyball Championship, bringing home gold every single season and cementing their legacy as the team to beat. It’s a badge of honor that the team wears with pride.

 

Sara Safa, Captain, SCA Volleyball Team

“I love the cheer team the cheer team. We definitely have a strong connection. They’re there for every single day game. They have not missed one yet, and they’re usually like behind us while we’re playing. So when I would go serve, they would be like, you got this, Sara. Get it in. You got it. And I’ll be like, oh my gosh, stop. You’re making me smile. You’re making me a little nervous. But their support definitely helps us a lot. It shows that. They’re by our side, despite whether we lose the point or we win the point,”

 

The team trains twice a week, ramping up to daily sessions before pep rallies. And their commitment doesn’t stop when school does, some girls even spend their summer break coming up with new chants and routines.

 

Tamera Locke

“Cheers are made up of stomps and chants that they themselves make up them themselves. So that’s what they do during the summer. And then they also do for pep rallies, they do dances, they do splits, stunts, back flips. So we have some very athletic girls here as well. So we want to make sure that they know that chair is not just being in a short skirt, but they also put the hard work and the talent into it.”

 

And helping to crank up that energy even more is Mercy the Seahawk, the school’s beloved mascot, who jumps right in with the squad to get the crowd roaring. Libero, Demi Solano, always looks forward to seeing the energy the squad will bring to each game.

 

Demi Solano, Libero, SCA Volleyball Team 

“We’re like an girls school, so a lot of sisterhood. We always support each other so much. We like celebrate each other’s success a lot and so we know our weaknesses and our strengths, so we work together to become one team and I think that’s really important for any successful team to have.”

 

Britney Gordon

“Do you think that balances out with the support from the cheer team? Is there a sisterhood there?”

 

Demi Solano

“Oh yeah, of course. I think our cheerleader just give an extra amount of support and more, school spirit to our team and just like uplifts us. If we’re like losing some points, we get that back from our cheerleader, I think. So they play a really big role in our success.”

 

At Saint Catherine Academy, sisterhood comes alive at every game, as players and cheerleaders celebrate every win together, moving as one, united and unstoppable. Britney Gordon for News Five.