The roar of a crowd from a Friday night game is a token part of the high school experience. Spectators, players, and cheerleaders establish the energy for these events.
This upcoming year, eager players and energetic cheerleaders won’t be the only ones on the sidelines for Bethel.
The Bethel School District has approved its very first pom squad for Bethel High School.
The squad was started by three students in the school district: sophomore Marlee Affentranger, freshman Kinsley Clanin, and eighth-grader Portlynn Franetovich.
“A pom team is a school dance team. We will perform with the band on the sidelines and perform at halftime.” Marlee said.
The team had tryouts Feb. 2, which resulted in four members of the pom squad including the students that started it. The last addition to the pom squad was Piper Whitecotton.
The pom squad truly started from the bottom.
The students described in detail what it was like trying to create a new sports involvement out of nothing.
“When we were first starting, we were kinda on our own, but we had so many supporters among the staff including our superintendent, Dr. Posey.” Clanin said.
“The three of us have always wanted a pom team at Bethel and this year Marlee had asked me if I wanted to help try and get it approved.” Franetovich said. “We talked about it and got all of the pricing and things that we would need for starting a new team and came up with a presentation.”
“It was literally student-driven,” booster club member Jenny Affentranger said. “They first researched what schools in class 3A had Pom and then what schools in Pottawatomie County had Pom. They wanted to know why Bethel couldn’t have Pom.”
Marlee Affentranger had her own personal reasons for wanting to start the squad.
“I wanted to start pom because I have always had a passion for dance and I love to show my school spirit. Pom is the best of both worlds.” Affentranger said.
Many efforts were put in by the students starting the pom squad over the past few months.
“We started actively trying to get it started in early October, so it’s been about four months,” Clanin said.
The three teens made their presentation for sented it to the superintendent and the school board.
“Marlee and Kinsley went to the high school principal and then the three of us went to the superintendent and the board. The board voted on it and it was approved,” Franetovich said.
The teens had positive experiences while starting the pom squad, however, they were not exempt from its difficulties.
“My favorite part would probably be when we got pom approved by our school board and the superintendent telling us that he appreciated all the hard work we put in.” Clanin said.
“Sometimes it was difficult and sometimes it was nerve-racking to present to people but the support from employees and classmates made it easy to keep going,” Marlee Affentranger said.
There will be a pom squad for the 2022-2023 school year; although it’s starting small, it will surely grow.
As of right now, a coach has not been officially hired, but their temporary coach is Leslie Wellman.
The pom squad thus far has held tryouts, booster club meetings, and fundraisers.
The booster club raffled off a blackstone griddle to help fund the team.
If you want more upcoming information about the pom squad you can check out their social media accounts. Their instagrams are @ bhs_pomboosters and @bhs_pom.
