From Sidelines to Spotlight

A decade has passed and the Albert Lea Cheer Team is back and is already being introduced to new opportunities. The past cheer teams were successful and won multiple trophies that the school is trying to locate after being lost to time. Although there was no specific reason Albert Lea initially withdrew cheerleading as a sport, its return has brought lots of positive responses from the community. 

The new coach for the team, Lori Langerud, who also teaches English Learners at Albert Lea High School, was asked to coach for the team in October 2024 and has enjoyed the position ever since. Langerud is passionate about the team. 

“We are currently what you’d call a sideline cheer team,” said Langerud when asked about the future of the team. “[This is] where the cheerleaders are on the sidelines of other sports, which is fine, but there is potential.”

Since the cheer team started, they have cheered on the sidelines for the Albert Lea football teams, and the boys’ and girls’ basketball teams. In the future, Langerud hopes the team has enough people on the team to do sideline cheer for wrestling. The reason they need more people to achieve this goal is because of the different cheers and chants for different sports. The cheerleaders need to learn so many cheers for each team it is easier to have multiple groups learn separate cheers and focus on one sport at a time.

Cheerleading has multiple roles to play while onthe team. The flyers and bases are the most common when practicing stunts in the air. The base will provide strength and sturdiness while lifting the flyer. The flyer uses balance to be held in the air and does stunts at the top of the pyramid. Other positions in the team would be a spotter or tumbler.

The team has grown stronger together through the challenges they have faced. Even though the cheerleaders have been focusing on the stunts and tumbles, they have bonded vastly due to the trust built between flyers and bases during base building. 

They have been practicing level one stunts which are foundational stunts such as pyramids, single-leg stunts and tosses. They are practicing these so that they are ready for next year where they will focus on level two stunts. 

“I really like the communication between the team,” Captain Abigail Miller said about her favorite aspect of cheerleading this year. “[I’m excited] to have a bigger group and do more stunting.”

The Albert Lea Gymnastics center reached out and offered to help the cheer team compete in a high school cheer competition. They have girls on the gymnastics team that would love to move to a high school level competition which would be a challenge that both the gymnasts and cheerleaders are interested in. 

“If you want to stunt, this needs to be your primary sport for all three seasons,” Coach Langerud said to help students prepare for upcoming tryouts. 

The competitive cheer squad will practice with the gymnasts twice a week. There will be a certain practice uniform necessary, different from the gymnasts uniform. Only one of the three seasons of cheerleading will include competitive tournaments which are not required, you do not have to participate in the competitive aspect of the sport if you are only interested in sideline cheer.

“I’m really excited because there’s so many opportunities when it comes to competitive cheer,” said Freshman Jayla Dahle about competitive cheer starting soon. Dahle continues on to talk about how she really enjoys sticking with the same group but still getting to meet new people that all have similar interests as you. 

Tryouts for the August 2025 cheer team are being held soon, likely near the end of April. These tryouts will be focused on the sideline squad for our Albert Lea football team and they are hoping to have enough students to cheer for both JV and varsity football.

These tryouts will interview the students, informing them of the commitment and time the team expects from you, and then in pairs they will be taught cheers to learn and practice. If and when students are chosen for the next season of sideline cheer, they will have expectations of preparing themselves before school starts again in August. The team plans to have practice three days a week for all three seasons during school and will be working alongside the school mascot. 

Some of the goals that Coach Langerud has for the team include opening the sport up for more people, being representatives for the school and increasing the crowd’s involvement with chants and cheers during games. 

“It can be work sometimes, but in the end it’s really fun,” said Miller.

Langerud says that if you enjoy being in front of people or like leadership roles you would likely enjoy being a part of the cheer squad. She says if you have any feeling that you would like being a cheerleader, you should try it out and give it a go. 

Coach Langerud is available to answer any questions about cheerleading or tryouts. You can contact her about any concerns through email, visit her before and after school in the school store in room.