The undefeated girls’ basketball team and cheerleaders at Pamlico County Middle School

Late in the afternoon, 15 minutes after the last bell rings at Pamlico County Middle School, the gymnasium is open and the lights are on, ready for the Hurricanes middle school girls basketball team, also called the Lady Canes. It’s a Thursday home game against the War Cubs from H.J. MacDonald Middle School. As the smell of popcorn signals the opening of the indoor concession stand, 12 young women in matching black and yellow T-shirts and black hair bows take their seats in the bleachers. They are the PCMS cheerleaders.

The gym is a loud bubble of young people navigating the most uncomfortable stage of adolescence. I can’t hear the person next to me speak but I can hear each squeak of the rubber soles on the court and the buzzer of the score keeper’s clock makes young children jump.

With only five rows of wooden bleachers in the narrow space on either side of the basketball court, players, referees and families carrying drinks and snacks compete for space. A father holds up his iPad to photograph his daughter dribbling the ball down the court.

The pre-teens in the room are magically learning how to run, lead and be seen in their new bodies with every second on the clock—tasks that clearly mean sodas, sour taffy, and hot dogs are in high demand.

“One, we are the best! Two, we don’t take no mess! Three, we’re gonna break it down! Four more, more, more!” The cheerleaders start their set, stomping the bleachers for percussion. Shy and self-assured at the same time, they are trying to rouse a crowd of tired parents who left work a little early to see their daughters play. Few are cheering along, but the cheerleaders don’t seem to notice.

“Coaching the middle school cheerleaders is fun and interesting at the same time,” Coach Valeria Davis tells me, sitting on the bleachers beside them. “It’s a challenging age. There is peer pressure, trying to make friends and they are trying to grow up. Cheerleading helps them a lot. One girl on the team … she was so quiet. Now, you can’t get her to stop talking. It brings out their self-esteem.”

Coach Davis is a teaching assistant at Pamlico County Primary School, a school bus driver, a part-time worker at Bojangles — and is getting her masters in mental health counseling at Liberty University. She is also a single mom; her 6-year-old daughter cheers alongside the team at every game. Both Coach Davis and Assistant Coach Bonnie Nethercutt were cheerleaders at Pamlico County High School.

“Let’s go, Pamlico,” yells the lead cheerleader, taking command in the front row before giggling.

At half-time, everyone leaves the bleachers to socialize or buy more food. Now that the cheerleaders have the space, they jump to the floor, their stage, for two precise cheers, “We Come to Jam” and “Hurricanes Rock the House.” Then they join the line at the concession stand to buy dinner.

At the end of the game, the Lady Canes have another victory, 35-12. They jump and hug each other with pride, then leave the floor. Their next game starts the playoffs and their chance for a championship win. Quickly, the cheerleaders line up for the start of the next game—the boys team—black and gold pompoms in hand.

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