Whether it’s for the school team or at the NorCal Elite gym, chances are that junior Dezi Lencioni can always be found training for competitive cheerleading.
After enjoying sideline cheerleading for the school team since freshman year, her mom encouraged her to try out for a competitive cheer team the same year. With many relatives on her mom’s side involved in cheerleading, competitive cheerleading felt like a natural next step in her journey.
The school’s cheer team runs all year round, with competitions starting in January and practices daily. However, her competitive club, Star Cheer, is even more of a commitment and is harder to join. It trains students from ages 12 to 19 years old and unlike the school team, cheerleaders try out months in advance and face significant competition.
This past year, over 200 cheerleaders tried out for Star, but only Lencioni and 33 others made the competitive team, which will travel throughout the country during competition season. Coaches also carry higher expectations for a cheerleader’s appearance at practice, competitions, camp or choreography days. 
Practices are also more frequent. Alongside participating in the school team Lencioni practices for two and a half hours every Monday and Wednesday and every other weekend, while the school team practices for two hours twice a week. Since the two seasons run at the same time Lencioni must balance her schoolwork as well as commitments to both teams. For school cheer she has to leave early an hour early to go to her competitive cheer practice, with cheer hours on those days ranging from 5-9:30.
Moreover, the skills required increase significantly on competitive cheer teams with longer routines that feature more stunting and jumps.
Much of Lencioni’s motivation comes from American cheerleader and television personality Lexi Brumback. Brumback, who starred in the Netflix docuseries “Cheer,” serves to Lencioni as proof that hard work and determination can help her overcome anything.
“Even after facing challenges, she came back stronger and showed that cheerleading isn’t just about talent; it’s about passion and believing in yourself,” Lencioni said.
Even though Lencioni has been practicing competitive cheer for almost two years now, cheerleading continues to bring challenges she must overcome. Similar to any sport, she notes the frustration with being hard on herself and comparing herself to others on the team. Despite these challenges, she has learned to ignore the background noise and focus on her love for the sport.
“Whenever I go to my cheer gym it allows me to release any stress or issues I have going outside cheer and helps me cope,” Lencioni said. “In a way, cheer makes me feel relieved.”
