Millbrook is one of many schools in the state helping to grow a new sport called stunt. As a combination of cheer and gymnastics, it gives cheerleaders a competitive form of their sport.  Being on stunt team takes a lot of athleticism and memory, along with hand eye coordination and the ability to communicate with a team. After teams are set, the season begins with each school’s team receiving the same routines and videos that they will all perform head-to-head at competitions. With the scoring based off counts and judges, they receive more points based off of whoever hits their routines the cleanest. Competitions are set up into four parts including partner stunts, pyramids and tosses, group jumps and tumbling, and team performance. It can get hard, as memorizing and perfecting multiple routines takes hours and hours of practice. After totaling up their points, the team who was able to score the most and look the cleanest while completing their moves within the counts will win. Sophomore Julia Brunetz explains, “Whoever has the cleanest performance and looks the most like the original routine is going to win. It takes so much practice, but it is always fun and worth it.”

 Though stunt is a fairly new sport, it is already getting harder each year. There are twenty-four routines given to each team at the beginning of the season ranked one through six by difficulty. This season in the Cap-8, a rank six skill from last year is now only rank five, showing how the sport is already progressing from year-to-year. Millbrook stunt coach Allison Mousel said, “The competitive aspect of stunt separates it from cheerleading and is what drives the team to do so well. It is really fun to watch these girls grow their skills and a new sport.” Millbrook and the rest of the Cap-8 are some of the first schools to have competitive stunt as a sport, and they are doing a great job at increasing its popularity.  The hard work and passion they show makes it enjoyable for anyone to watch. Stunt allows the most athletic and hardest working cheerleaders to display what separates them from their peers.

 Junior Riley Lockwood said, “The competitiveness of stunt is my favorite part about the sport. Being able  to make a difference and contribute to a team doing what I love instead of cheering one on is really fun.” Cheerleading is one of the most difficult sports created for students. Throwing teammates in the air and catching them while they do a pose is dangerous and thrilling. On the competitive scene, stunt adds even more excitement to cheerleading and helps exhibit its difficulty. When two different teams compete using the same routine, it really shows who worked harder and who has the most chemistry. Cheerleading is no easy sport, but stunt helps show just how much work and time cheerleaders really put in. Currently undefeated, Millbrook Stunt is one of the best teams in the conference.