Coupeville Sports

Jai’Lysa Hoskins (front row, second from left) and teammates say cheese after a paint/water fight brought a close to summer cheer camp. (Pam Headridge photo)

Jai’Lysa Hoskins is a true triple threat.

Silky smooth on the track oval — where she dominates in the sprints and relays — a ferocious rebounder with a light scoring touch on the basketball court and an electrifying presence on the sidelines each fall as a key member of the Coupeville High School cheer squad, the Wolf senior does a bit of everything.

And everything she does, she does well. Not that it doesn’t take a bit of hard work.

Two years ago she juggled basketball, school and being a part of Coupeville’s competition cheer squad, which placed sixth at state in a triumphant return to the world of stunts and throws.

“Doing all three was extremely hard as a sophomore, but I’m a part of an amazing team that has my back through it all,” Hoskins said.

“One thing I learned while trying to juggle those activities, you have to be a good planner and really push yourself beyond your limits.

Hoskins, who will have cheered all the way through her high school days, almost didn’t pick up a pompom at all.

“My mom talked me into cheering,” she said. “I used to think that cheer was too girly, but after my season you couldn’t keep me off the football sideline!”

With the Wolves having operated as both a straight-up cheer squad and as a competition team, Hoskins and her teammates have had to show they are more than just sideline decoration.

The outdated idea that cheer is not a sport should no longer be a question.

“The only thing I would say is to come out and have a practice with us!” Hoskins said. “Once you go through a practice, you realize how much athleticism goes into cheer and they’d change their mind.”

Regardless of the sport and whether she is on the sidelines or in the thick of things, Hoskins is sure to be a hit, her mega-watt smile lighting up the room wherever she goes.

Her friendliness meshes well with her fellow cheerleaders, which fits in perfectly with the long tradition of CHS cheer squads being a tightly knit bunch under the tutelage of peppy head coach Sylvia Arnold.

Family on the mat. Family off the mat.

“My favorite part about cheer is the unity and bond that I built with girls of all types through the team,” Hoskins said.

“One of our team goals this year is to ignite the spirit at CHS and to get people coming to games of every sport, supporting one another in that way.

“The only personal goal I have for this year is to just give CHS everything I have for every sport that I play this year,” she added.

“My plans for after high school are to go to college somewhere and study psychology. I hope to get on a track and field team at the college level — I think that would be amazing!”