A recent venture into the depths of the Roaring Fork High School (RFHS) athletic equipment room turned up a fun little surprise for Rams basketball teammates Carly Crownhart and Nikki Tardif.
“We saw a sign that said ‘cheer closet’ and decided to take a look,” Crownhart said.
Inside were some neatly folded cheerleading outfits, unused since the last time RFHS had an official cheer squad in the late 2010s.
So, after the Lady Rams won their Feb. 2 home game against Cedaredge, Crownhart and Tardif emerged at the start of the boys game garbed as cheerleaders, helping to lead the “Blue Crew” student section in a few cheers.
It was contagious.
A few more teammates joined up for the next game, and by this past weekend’s slate of home games, there was a squad of seven cheerleaders on the sidelines cheering not only the varsity boys but the group of grade-schoolers who played an exhibition game at halftime. A few of the freshmen boys even joined up to round out a co-ed squad.
Roaring Fork girls basketball head coach Mike Vidakovich said he didn’t recognize them at first when he was sitting on the other side of the gym with his varsity assistant, Rich Law, watching the boys game against Olathe. But he did make a quick note of a tall girl in the middle, and wondered why she wasn’t on the basketball team.
He soon realized she was, in fact, his sophomore post player, Tardif, along with most of the rest of the girls team.
“We’ve used the pom-poms for some random games before and during spirit week,” Tardif said. “When we found the uniforms, we just thought, ‘Why not?!’ … It’s a way to make the games more fun and to be supportive.”
Vidakovich said he and Roaring Fork boys head coach Jason Kreiling have been talking about ways to bring the two varsity teams together and foster more of an “all-family” approach to the Rams basketball program.
“The boys are always there early to cheer for the girls, and they always stick around for the boys,” Vidakovich said. “I don’t really monitor what happens outside the gym with these girls, but they’ve done so well in the way they conduct business on and off the court. It’s a real credit to the high school and the community.”
RFHS Athletic Director Crista Barlow said the school is looking to resurrect a cheerleading team, but they would need someone to take it on as a club program first before an official cheer team could be established. If anyone is interested, she’s the one to talk to.