VOLGA The Sioux Valley competitive cheer team will begin the 2025 season on Thursday night and the Cossacks are looking to win their 19th straight state championship.
The Cossacks will compete in the Mitchell Invite on Thursday and head coach Casie King said shes looking forward to seeing her teams routine in action.
I think were feeling pretty good about our team this year. We always like a little more time to prepare, but we have some pretty big stuff in our routine this year so we know it might be a little rocky the first couple competitions because were putting in a lot of difficulty and are aiming pretty high. Some teams like to play it safe and play for a clean routine and we always like to go for a wow factor. With that comes some risk, but we feel pretty good about it, King said.
The Cossacks have 13 upperclassmen this year and are mixing that with 14 underclassmen, including eight middle schoolers.
King said its been nice to have so many juniors and seniors but its been interesting having a lot of athletes that have not cheered before.
I have seven seniors and six juniors, so we have a pretty big upperclass. But we also have a number of athletes that have never cheered before. So, its been kind of an odd dynamic because we have good seniority and good leadership, but we also have quite a few new [athletes]. I think we have four seventh graders and quite a few that have never cheered before, King said.
King pointed out two seniors that have taken the reins as the leaders of the team.
Kalia King is definitely one of our strong leaders. Portia VanderWal has cheered with us since she was a seventh grader. Really as a whole, our seniors are pretty strong leaders, King said.
With so many young athletes that have not competed in front of a crowd before, King said shes intrigued as to how they react on Thursday when they compete at Mitchell High School.
One of the big things that will come to realization [on Thursday] is the fear factor that comes to play when you step on the floor. A lot of them have been practicing and have been comfortable, but they dont have an audience. So, it will be interesting to see how that plays out when theyre in front of a couple hundred people. Thats where we rely on, not only our senior leaders, but our kids that have done this for a long time, King said.
Sioux Valley has dominated Class A for almost two decades now. The Mitchell Invite is one of five meets that the Cossacks will compete in that have Class AA teams in it. King said going up against the Class AA teams allows her team to realize that they are not unbeatable.
I think the key for us is never getting complacent and knowing that we can be beat. We spend a lot of time competing in AA every year, so we actually get beat pretty often and its good because it keeps us humble and we know we need to keep working. We like to hold our own in AA. When it comes to our young kids and our youth, we worry that they would just think that a state championship would be gifted to us. Theres always that drive that everyone is on the same page and we have to be on the same page in order to get to that point, King said.
The state competitive cheer and dance competitions are set for Oct. 24-25 in Watertown. King said she thinks her team will grow throughout the season but has the drive to make it 19-straight State titles for the Cossacks.
The first night on the floor competing will be a big factor for us. I feel like we have a little room to grow still as far as what needs to be done and the amount of work that needs to be put in. But weve been pushing really hard and striving for perfection and working to hit all areas of the score sheet. Were at a school without a gymnastics program, so that is something that will be lower on our scoresheet, so its something that we know we have to work harder for. But overall, I feel like were going to do well on the scoresheet, Kings said.
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