Bixby’s Paige Lavender
Having no prior experience in the sport, Paige Lavender began cheering her freshman year. Now a senior, she reflects on her journey and how far she has come. Starting as a shy freshman, Lavender has evolved into a confident leader and a vital contributor to the team’s success. “I started cheering my freshman year,” she says. “Everything we were doing was new to me—I had to put in a lot of work to learn and catch up.” She says she didn’t have the foundation that many others had, but what she lacked in experience she made up for in work ethic and spirit.
Now, she leads her team the same way others once inspired her. “I try to lead and motivate. I want to be the kind of person I looked up to.” Lavender passionately believes that a positive mindset will carry you a long way and strives to be “that” person for the team’s underclassmen.
While she loves all parts of the routine, she says her favorite part of cheer is the stunts. Demanding precision and focus, stunting doesn’t work without every member of the team doing their part. “I love being able to work as a stunt group to be able to make a stunt hit,” she says. Striving to master her full, Lavender says that her biggest challenge has been securing her spot on the mat. “Your spot is never guaranteed,” she explains. “You are constantly working and pushing yourself to the best of your abilities every day.”
The work Lavender and her teammates put into their routine isn’t isolated to the school year—it’s year-round.
“Many people don’t realize how difficult [cheer] actually is,” says Lavender. Spending day after day in the gym, the physical and mental demands of cheer are innumerable. One of your jobs is to throw human beings up in the air or be thrown,” she points out. “That takes a lot of strength and trust from your team.” Lavender’s cheer journey makes it apparent that experience isn’t always the starting point—work ethic and mental strength will carry you just as far. Heading into her senior year, her presence will be felt long after she steps off the mat.
