Victoria Heppner is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Shadow Ridge for AZPreps365.com. 

Balancing school, sports and a social life for any high school student can be challenging but for the three newest members of Shadow Ridge’s cheer squad, the stakes have been raised a step higher.

Once varsity football players Julian Verdin and Jason and Justin Hernandez decided to join the cheer team, they officially became multi-sport athletes during a single season.

Between practicing every day and worrying about maintaining strong grades to stay on the team, the stress of playing one varsity sport can be massive. But this didn’t stop these athletes from pursuing a spot on the cheer squad.

Although the athletes are happy, they were a little hesitant at first to join the cheer team.

The Hernandez brothers were influenced by some members of the squad to join the team and eventually gave into their persistent efforts.

“One day Justin asked me to go just so I could be there with him,” junior Jason Hernandez said, “and after that they kind of just said, 'All right, you guys are on the team,' and we just stuck around.”

Senior Julian Verdin found his place on the squad through a different route when a member of the squad last year told him that he should join.Senior Julian Verdin lifts teammate during cheer practice. 

When Verdin decided to attend practice, he had no idea that he would recognize familiar faces with the Hernandez brothers and vice versa with the brothers seeing Verdin.

The transition of playing one sport to multiple has been a test of time management and balance but they expressed that it is not as bad as one may think.

Despite attending different practices multiple times a day, they credit cheer coach Daye Smalley for working around their schedules and adapting to their commitments to both teams.

“She deserves way more credit than she gets because she does so much,” Verdin said. “She does a lot to keep this team together and it shows.”

Smalley said she believes that the first priority for her team is to ensure that everyone feels part of a family and she always promotes positivity and togetherness.

“One of my biggest goals,” Smalley said, “is to make sure everybody has fun in high school and feels like they are part of a family.”

Verdin and the Hernandez brothers had only praise and words of gratitude toward their coach for her efforts in making them feel less stressed and more included, despite being the newest members on the squad.Julian, Justin, and Justin pose for a quick photo after a long day of practices. 

Verdin mentioned that he has built a tight-knit relationship with those on the cheer team, which almost mirrors how close he feels to his football team.

“In football it’s like a family, and then in cheer it feels pretty close to that too,” Verdin said. “We’re all just one big family because they are a part of it with us at all our games cheering alongside us.”

The athletes expressed how the teams have bonded and become a larger family that supports one another in their efforts on the field and in the gym.

Not only do the boys receive encouragement from teammates, they also receive support from people like their parents, coaches and friends.

“Our family was supportive about it,” Justin said, “and our mom thought it was pretty cool. We didn’t really tell her, we just kind of did it and she supported us.” 

Senior Justin Hernandez supports the flyer in his group. 

The boys have earned support from Smalley as well as their football coaches, who occasionally pop into practices and watch the boys pursue their passion in cheer.

In the support they receive from others, they keep their stress manageable and their efforts in the classroom strong.

The athletes also found that doing yoga has helped them deal with stress and kept their mental health intact.

“Sometimes we do yoga with the team,” Verdin said, “but we have also been doing it in between practices. We’ll do some beginner 30-minute yoga and it feels really good, physically and mentally.”

These three athletes have adjusted well to being a multi-sport athlete during a single season and have found great success with their teams.

Shadow Ridge’s varsity football team is 3-0 and the cheer squad looks to start competitions next month.

Both teams have had immense success with the Hernandez brothers and Verdin on them and the boys hope to continue to perform well on the field and keep the balance they have found during this hectic season.