DATE: Friday, February 28, 1997             TAG: 9702280043

SECTION: DAILY BREAK             PAGE: E1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY VICKI L. FRIEDMAN, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE                        LENGTH:  127 lines

NO JOKE! THE CO-ED CHEERLEADING SQUAD AT ATLANTIC SHORES TAKES ITS SPORT VERY SERIOUSLY. THE PRIZE-WINNING TEAM EVEN INVOLVES FOOTBALL AND BASKETBALL.

Bryan Driskell is a two-sport star at Atlantic Shores. In the fall he's the Seahawks quarterback. In the winter and spring, he's a catcher - on the cheerleading team.

``Last year the starting quarterback, fullback, tailback, basketball players, some of the top guys in the school were cheerleaders,'' says Driskell, whose main role is to secure the petite female tumblers as they come down from skyward somersaults. ``Here they have respect for the stuff we do. We do have the biggest trophy in the school, so they don't say that much to us.''

The butt of jokes in many area high schools, cheerleading is an honor at Atlantic Shores, a Christian school that enrolls 650 students from preschool through 12th grade. Ten years ago, the school had no cheerleaders; today moderator Joy Bryant runs a program recognized for excellence locally and nationally.

The Atlantic Shores cheerleaders are the only team from the school to win a conference title, and they did it four times in five years when the school, now an independent, was part of the Metro Conference. Adding boys to the squad three years ago elevated the Seahawks, who have produced six All-Americans in that time, beyond local prominence.

The Seahawks finished first in the Fellowship of Christian Cheerleaders competition last January in Orlando, Fla., which featured 70 squads from across the nation. In March they will compete for the Eastern Cheerleading Association title. In the ECA event comprised of mostly public high schools up and down the East Coast, the Seahawks received honorable mention in 1994 and '95, and last year they were third.

``We were always the best in our conference,'' says Bryant, a former cheerleader herself in Berwick, Pa. ``But when we added guys, I guess because the difficulty level goes up a step, you can compete on a different level.''

Ten years ago, she wasn't thinking about national prizes or All-Americans. An English teacher at the school, she simply wanted to start a cheerleading program at Atlantic Shores, which at the time only went up to the ninth grade. She wasn't picky during tryouts; some of the girls had cheered previously, but most had not.

``Our difficulty level was so low back then,'' says Bryant.

Motions were sloppier, gymnastics skills were more a luxury than a given and male cheerleaders were as unthinkable as girls wearing football uniforms.

``The basket toss, where girls go up in the air and touch their toes, no one did them then,'' Bryant notes.

Gradually, cheerleading became more about stunts and precision, less about waving pompons. High schools began mimicking college programs, and Atlantic Shores was no exception. As the school grew and added a high school, Bryant became more selective about who made the varsity squad, starting junior varsity and junior J.V. programs. Now, tryouts are held every spring and Bryant picks judges from outside of the school to help select the squad.

Prospective female cheerleaders must learn two cheers, two chants, three jumps and complete two to three stunts as part of a group. In addition they perform to a short music routine that judges their spirit, volume and smile. Any gymnastics skills a girl performs are a plus. There are no weight requirements, although Bryant says, ``It's nice to have half a squad light and half a squad stronger girls, so you can have bases and flyers.''

Flyers are petite girls who soar through the air turning flips and spirals, while the girls and boys who are called bases, catch them.

Fourteen girls earn spots on the Seahawk varsity squad; the boys, who only participate on the school's competition squad as many of them play sports, are handpicked by Bryant, who looks for strength and size. It's an asset if the boy tumbles, but not a requirement, as mainly boys are used to catch the girls who fly as high as 25 feet.

Driskell says that role comes down to confidence and timing. ``Most of the time when we catch, we catch with a partner,'' he says. ``Two guys can catch one of those little girls. Most of us have played football.''

The boys must also be well-conditioned, says cheerleader Eric Neff. ``It's only a two-minute routine, but by the end, we're gasping for air,'' he says. ``I'll go to football and basketball practice and I won't come home as tired.''

Adding guys also increases the potential for danger. Each year Seahawk stunts become more difficult, but Bryant reports only one major accident. Junior Jamie Zimmerman broke her nose earlier in the year when she slipped during a landing and caught an inadvertent fist from the partner trying to catch her.

That didn't deter Zimmerman from returning once she healed.

``I've never been dropped and just fallen on the ground,'' she says. ``I feel safe doing this.''

Zimmerman, Chrissy Brown and Laura Bruce are the Seahawks' All-Americans. Cheerleaders can receive that honor through either camps or competition. Bryant's squad attends an ECA camp every summer to learn the latest stunts.

Camps let girls ``try out'' to be All-American, or they can wait until competition when Bryant will choose girls on her squad she thinks qualify for the honor. Those candidates will be numbered, and judges will specifically watch their execution of particular skills. While spirit and smile help, jumping and gymnastics are essential.

``Anybody can smile and anybody can be loud and anybody can have spirit,'' Bryant says, ``but they want skills that not everybody can do.''

At competitions, squads are judged on crowd appeal, choreography, cheering technique, gymnastics skills, jumps and overall performance. While cheerleading competitions are sanctioned by several different bodies - in addition to ECA there's the National Cheerleading Association as well as Universal to name a few - there is no definitive equivalent of an Olympic gold. Bryant favors NCA, the oldest group, but has never had a team compete there. Atlantic Shores has qualified to compete in NCA's coed division, but getting to the competition has always proved too costly.

Cheerleading is inexpensive compared with other high school extracurriculars, but costs increase if squads want to compete nationally. Atlantic Shores provides uniforms but expects cheerleaders to buy their shoes, bloomers and hair ribbons. The four-day camp the Seahawks attend every summer is in Williamsburg, so they go as commuter campers for $90 apiece. If squads qualify for competition, cheerleaders must pay their registration fees, generally around $35, and travel expenses.

It can pay off and has for Brown, who plans to be an ECA coach this summer, a job that will allow her to be a traveling teacher at camps. Then, she hopes to cheer in college.

``I've always wanted to cheer for N.C. State or UNC or Kentucky,'' she says, naming three of the best cheerleading teams in the nation.

Bryant says Brown, 5-foot-2 and 100 pounds, would adjust well to the more difficult stunts of college cheering, as she's the right size and used to performing on a coed team.

Zimmerman, a junior, also would like to cheer in college, and she feels Atlantic Shores has prepared her well. ``Other schools are proud of football and basketball,'' she says. ``We're proud of cheering here.'' ILLUSTRATION: [color photos]

BILL TIERNAN/The Virginian-Pilot

Atlantic Shores cheerleaders Raju Vaziralli, left, Christy Damas and

Bryan Driskell practice a lift during afternoon practice.

The cheerleaders gather for a moment of prayer before starting

practice Thursday in the school gym.

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