Coupeville Sports

Payton Wilson

Get rid of your stereotypes or Payton Wilson will shatter them for you.

The Coupeville High School freshman is taking great delight in showing the world that cheerleading, and the athletes who participate in it, are much more than the doubters think they are.

“I started cheering because I wanted to prove people wrong and break the stereotype of “snooty dumb cheerleaders”,” Wilson said. “Most people were shocked when I joined. I guess I never seemed like the girly type. But you don’t need to be girly to be a cheerleader. Trust me!”

A newcomer to the sport, she is embracing just about everything that comes with joining Sylvia Arnold’s always-large squad.

“There’s so many things I enjoy about cheer,” Wilson said. ” First of all, the uniforms. But who doesn’t love that part?

“I love that we get to act completely ridiculous in order to get the crowd really going,” she added. “I love that no matter what your feelings are towards another girl, once you step in that gym, we’re all one big family. No words can describe how grateful I am for my cheer sisters.”

It’s a point that’s been brought up often, but, regardless of whether CHS officials want to recognize cheer for what it is — a sport, not an activity — the athletes involved see it that way. Wilson eloquently provides a well-reasoned defense for that belief.

“I’ve always thought of cheer as a sport,” she said. “Once again, this is where the stereotypes come in. Most people think we’re just girls with pom poms yelling at the crowd. NOT TRUE!! We work our butts off!

“There’s 40 cheerleaders this year. Lots of them are beginners, but they know their stuff,” Wilson added. “We’ve learned 40 cheers, three dances, we’ve learned new ways to stunt, and we learned how to work together.”

Wilson, who would love to one day earn a spot on the sidelines cheering for the Seattle Seahawks, sees her sport as a lifetime one.

“A lot of people think it’s not a sport because you can’t have a big future with cheering. Well, they’re wrong,” Wilson said. “Sure, you won’t get recognized as much as a football player, but hey, if you’re having fun, who cares!

“We work just as hard, memorize as many “plays,” and we can have a future in cheering,” she added. “As cheerleaders, we have to learn how to play football so we know what cheers to call. If you put me out on that field, I could show those boys how its done!”

A dance veteran (“I really love to dance. I danced for 10 years and I wish I could still be doing it today”), Wilson also has a hidden academic talent, which helps her to express her feelings both in motion and words.

“Honestly, I love English. I love to write. Nobody knows that, but I do,” Wilson said.

While her mom is the biggest day-to-day influence in her life (“She has supported me, and helped me get through a lot. And I know she’ll be cheering me on at every game), Wilson’s newest role model is her coach. If this is Arnold’s last year on the sideline, as is widely believed, she is setting the youngest of her Wolves up for a lifetime of success.

“Ms. Sylvia, ever since I started cheer, I fell in love with her ways of teaching,” Wilson said. “She’s not just our coach, she’s our cheer mom. And we all love her to death!

“She’s very supportive and she knows what it’s like. It’s okay to mess up, it’s okay to forget. As long as we are truly trying our best, she’s happy,” she added. “Sometimes she’ll even do the dances with us. It’s awesome! She has taught me that no matter what goes on in our own worlds, we’re always here for each other. All 40 of us!”