Cheer and drill teams have become a big part of Texan football culture through their role as the highlights of football games who heighten spirits and engagement. However, cheer and drill are often confused with one another, as their defining features can be unclear to those outside the teams.
Olga Alvarado has been LASA’s cheer coach since LASA and LBJ athletics split in 2021. Alvarado explained that she became the head coach because of her passion for performance and love for teamwork that coincides with cheer.
“Cheer is a sport that combines dance and gymnastics with the primary goal of supporting and encouraging sports teams, as well as entertaining crowds at games and events,” Alvarado said. “Cheerleaders perform routines that include cheers, chants, stunts, jumps, and tumbling.”
Paige Edwards-Gomez, the director of the LASA drill team, has been dancing since she was five years old. She believes being on the drill team in high school allowed her love of drill and dance to stay with her and make her want to continue teaching others the same skills.
“Drill is a form of dance and mostly an entertainment style of dance,” Edwards-Gomez said. “We do a lot of the traditional drill team style of dance, which is precision style dancing.”
Precision style dancing focuses on all members of the team being perfectly in sync as they perform simple moves as the whole group moves together. According to senior Delphia Vo, captain of the cheer team, this difference separates them from cheer at pep rallies.
“For games the cheer team’s obviously on the sidelines and we’re cheering on the teams, and we don’t usually get halftime performance time,” Vo said. “And then for pep rallies, the cheer team plans the whole entire pep rally.”
When preparing for pep rallies, Vo puts together the script and gives different teams time slots in which to present. The drill team is one of these groups.
“Dance originally started during halftime for games in Texas,” Edwards-Gomez said. “It originated to help the football games because they wanted people to stay past halftime,”
Junior Janethza Ortega, a member of the LASA Velocity drill team, believes the biggest difference lies in the fact they do two completely different movements and produce vastly different results. According to Ortega, cheer focuses more on flashy jumps and tricks, while drill is more focused on dance.
“It’s two different things, and it’s sort of frustrating when people say that cheer and drill team is the same thing because it’s not,” Ortega said. “[Cheer] has flyers and their stunts and their tumbling, and that’s what they focus on, and we focus more on the basics of dance.”
According to Ortega, cheer teams are meant to intentionally encourage the crowd at rallies and games by bringing up spirits to support teams while drill teams are meant to keep the crowd entertained during halftime when the game can’t provide entertainment. Cheer has a similar element of being there for the games and supporting the team through their entertainment; however, according to Vo, cheer’s role is to focus on the student section.
“The games are so much fun because the student section’s cheering on the football team,” Vo said. “They’re also doing the student section cheers.”
According to Vo, while drill and cheer share similarities, drill is characterized by a more fluid style. It allows for greater freedom, especially when it comes to incorporating more jumps and dynamic movements.
“My definition of drill would be that it’s more of fluid dance things,” Vo said. “They do a lot more leaps and pirouettes.”
Throughout the school year, LASA drill engages in a diverse selection of types of dance, including hip-hop, jazz, contemporary, and novelty. Auditions take place after spring break, and selected members then prepare themselves for the fall football season at summer practices.
Edwards-Gomez emphasized that the traditions surrounding drill is what make it special for the dancers. Additionally, the support from the students and the fans of LASA football enhances this experience, creating a unique environment for participants.
“I think there’s something really special about Friday night games, that adrenaline you get right before that very first performance where you have your teammates surrounding you,” Edwards-Gomez said. “We all do this tradition where we lift our foot up… all around the circle one at a time. I think that’s really special to get ready for the performance.”
The LASA cheer and drill teams perform at football games throughout the season and at their competitions. There will also be a spring show on May 3, 2025, a presentation of their dances from throughout the year.
