Noah Kaleiʻohuakaʻihilani Brooks also known as ʻOhu, a junior at Kamehameha Schools, has had a love for cheer since she was four years old.
ʻOhu had cheered for three different cheerleading teams, with Kamehameha Schools being the fourth and newest addition since she got accepted in 9th grade. With her talent, ʻOhu quickly excelled on the team, competing at the state tournament with the varsity team in her freshman year. As she struggled to feel a sense of ʻohana at Kamehameha, cheer was able to make her feel like she belonged – but only for a while.
Feeling like the social scene at Kamehameha is dependent on the clubs and sports and extracurriculars participated in, ʻOhu felt like she had finally found her family on our cheer team. Yet, she was not expecting the mental and physical drain that was to come. ʻOhu explains that the coaches have a keen eye on any minute mistake made, noting that a minor flaw can lead to intense consequences. “The mental capacity you have to have for cheer is insane.” she said.
ʻOhu recalls a time when the cheer team was cheering at a basketball game hosted in Kekūhaupiʻo gym. The girls on the team had messed something up in the routine, their morale already being down. After the game, the girls had to run “kekū stairs” and do push-ups in front of the gym while the audience was walking out, embarrassing themselves and worsening the already stressful night. ʻOhu notes that “the toxicity of cheer is a big thing.”
Departing from the team after her sophomore year, ʻOhu feels like the atmosphere of the cheer team had much potential to be a supportive and positive one. Although the team tried to be inclusive and loving, that energy came off as superficial and not enough, especially for the stresses that the team endures. “Giving your 110% was not enough for them” ʻOhu states. In times when the team needed encouragement, ʻOhu shares that the coaches would either punish them or give them a negative talk. This environment intertwined with the six practices a week was a lot on not only the bodies but also the mental health of our cheerleaders.
ʻOhu hopes that in the future, the cheer team will strengthen their communication with the coaches about how they really feel – which she believes will not only improve the health of the team but also their performance.
