By Krystal Torres ’25
The Derby High School cheer team is back and stronger than ever, ready to return to the competition mat after missing two seasons.
Cheer coaches Kimberly Voytek and Alexandra Drezek, Derby alumnae, have been working hard to put together a stable, title-winning cheer team. The cheer team consists of 21 girls who were chosen from more than 60 who tried out. Tryouts lasted 3 days and consisted of learning a dance and a cheer, showcasing them, and showcasing tumbling skills.
This year DHS has a solid cheerleading program with committed coaches who have many years of cheerleading experience and are prepared to support and rebuild the team. “I’m excited to see the growth of the program in general seeing how big our team is and how far everyone is coming and where our team will be March next year!” said Voytek.
The name “Derby” has not been seen on a high school cheerleading competition mat for two seasons. This occurred because of inconsistent coaching, inadequate funding, lack of members for a full team, and more. “We are looking forward to being on that blue mat again after a couple of years off, and hopefully bringing home some titles this year as well,” said Voytek.
Drezek and Voytek have been working hard even before the season officially started to get the team new, high-quality equipment and gear. As a team, they have raised over $10,000 from one singular fundraiser, a SnapRaise fundraiser that allowed donors to purchase Derby cheer merchandise. From another fundraiser, the team made about $1,000. This money helped the girls get matching new cheer backpacks, new shirts, sweatpants, sweatshirts, and hoodies, all personalized with their names and years of graduation.
The girls have been working extremely hard every day from Monday to Saturday. They practice Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday practices, Friday nights are game days, and Saturday the girls attending tumbling class to improve their skills in preparation for competition season. Drezek said, “We would like to see the people who are working on new tumbling skills and dedicated themselves every Saturday to start being able to ring that bell on Saturday at tumbling!” “Ringing the bell” is a phrase that means someone got a new skill on their own.
All the girls on the team can agree that Drezek and Voytek are both amazing coaches. They always have the girl’s best interest at heart. While they may be tough and push the girls, the girls know they do it because they want to see the team succeed and they want the girls to look as best as they possibly could. ” They’re very inspirational and they make me try my best each day.” said Alison Echeverria-Soto ’26. Xariyah Mitchell ’25 says, ” Our coaches are pretty good coaches and they try hard and have done more than our past coaches have and because of them we have lots of nice things. They push and inspire me to do better.”
“We are extremely impressed with the potential that we see, we have very dedicated, hardworking girls that will not give up on themselves which is why we will be successful!” said Drezek.
The Raider Press 