Panther Cheerleaders Attend Camp
By John Earp
The 2026-2027 Jal Panther Cheerleading is attending their first cheer camp this Friday and Saturday in Lovington. Head Cheer Coack Katia Martinez says this weekend’s camp is what is known as a skills camp, which focuses on various cheer stunts. She says the team will be working with a lot of other teams during the camp, with the goal of improving their skills, which they will then display during football and basketball games especially. Last year’s team, of which about half are on this year’s team, placed fourth in the state cheer competition, and Coaches Martinez and Zamora as well as the team are aiming to improve upon. The team has their second cheer camp coming up in San Antonio July 31st through August 2nd.
Coach Martinez says attendance at the non-mandatory cheer practices this summer has not been as great, mainly because of cheerleaders going on summer vacations, but she says overall the team is doing very well, and attendance and enthusiasm has been good overall. Martinez says of her team, “I feel like we’ve improved more than I thought we would this year.”
Mandatory practices begin August 3rd. Cheer camps are not mandatory, but are strongly suggested, especially for new members of the team, so that they can learn the material well, and that is where teammate bonding really takes hold. Martinez says, “Because they’re going to be together for 10 plus months, and you have to have some sort of bond to stand someone 24/7 for 10 months, you know? So we try to get a lot of our trust in each other and us getting to know each other throughout the summer, mainly.”