Coupeville Sports

Jessica Painter

Painter (center) and fellow freshman cheerleaders celebrate at the end of a cheer camp. (Pam Headridge photo)

Jessica Painter has a challenge for you.

Want to be one of the foolish people to claim that cheer is not a sport? Then Painter would like to see you try and do what she and her Coupeville High School teammates accomplish every day at practice.

“Cheer is definitely a sport! We work just as hard as anyone else,” Painter said. “We literally put everything into it. I like to say ‘blood, sweat and tears is all it takes,’ and that is what we give.

“We defy gravity every time we put up a stunt. Unlike most sports, your timing is very important. If one person is off, the stunt is so difficult,” she added. “If they don’t think it’s a sport, why don’t they try it? If it was easy, everyone would do it.”

Painter, a freshman who also plans to turn out for drama and tennis this year, is one of four ninth-graders on a 14-woman Wolf winter cheer squad. After cheering for a bit at age 10, she returned to the sidelines this fall, when she was part of the football cheer team.

With her out-going personality, cheer seems a natural.

“I’ve always wanted to be a cheerleader,” Painter said. “My peppy attitude helps with my cheering. I’m very loud, so that ensures I’m heard. I’ve always had a ton of energy and I wanted to support my school.”

Like many cheerleaders before her, she has embraced, and been embraced in return, by the team-first philosophy promoted by CHS cheer coaches Sylvia Arnold and Cheridan Boyd Eck.

“I am so happy to be able to be a part of the team!,” Painter said. “I would have to say my favorite part of doing cheer would have to be having all the girls there for help and support. We are just family on the sidelines, but when no one can see, too.”

Along with going inside for basketball season, the Wolf cheerleaders will also tweak their routines, constantly adding new wrinkles that require a fair amount of practice time. While that comes with the sport, it’s the one area that Painter could probably live without.

“I love the stunting and the tumbling that is gonna be happening this basketball season,” she said. “I could definitely do without all the workouts during practice. For anyone who says it’s not a sport, I would love for them to give it a try.

“It is definitely hard, but worth it!”

A strong student as well, Painter singles out English (“Mr. (Ken) Stange is most definitely my favorite teacher. He makes class understandable and so much fun!”) and math (“I love figuring things out. The difficulty and amount of effort you put into it is totally worth it”) as her best classes.

Both at school and away, much of her life revolves around family, whether it’s her cheer one or the one waiting for her at home.

“I am definitely a family person. Family comes first before everything else. My family is my number one — home and cheer family,” Painter said. “I enjoy spending time with friends with the free time that I have. My friends make me laugh and smile all the time!

“My dad, Mike, has been a large part of my life. He has had a very large influence,” she added. “Without my wonderful, kind, supportive, loving mother, Cindi Lester, I wouldn’t be who I am. My mom is always there for me for advice and support. I really couldn’t ask for a better mommy than the one I have!”