For senior cheerleader Camille Golinvaux, cheer has become a major part of her life and high school memories. After all, she has been doing it since she was a toddler, and has been cheering for Briar Woods since freshman year.
“When I was younger, I started in gymnastics, and I grew up in the sport,” says Golinvaux, “My parents found some people who did cheer when I was [about] three.”
When she first started out at Briar Woods, Golinvaux was on top, and made varsity. However, that also made her the youngest on varsity.
“She struggled a lot with maturity and anxiety [in the beginning],” says Coach Curry, the coach for the Briar Woods Cheer team, “I’ve really watched her mature and conquer her anxiety, and it’s been amazing to watch.”
On her team, Golinvaux is one of the best. Curry lists the things Golinvaux excels at, saying she does everything well. More than that though, Golinvaux is a supportive force for her team.
“She’s always willing to help, she supports the coaching staff by keeping the team on task and working hard,” explains Curry, “She has a goal of [the team] being the best we possibly can.”
As for goals for the future, Golinvaux has big aspirations, and wants to cheer in college. Specifically, she wants to cheer for a big game day college, listing colleges like the University of Tennessee, Clemson University, JMU, and University of South Florida.
“I really hope she gets that opportunity,” says Curry, “I think she’d be an asset to any team.”
To prepare, Golinvaux joined a co-ed team outside of school. A co-ed team is where you have boys and girls on the same team. Briar’s team is not a co-ed this year, but most college teams are, and Golinvaux wants to make herself the best cheerleader she can be.
“I got that role because I wanted to fly [for] co-ed. Some of the schools I’m looking at are going to just do co-ed,” explains Golinvaux.
However, Golinvaux’s position on Briar’s team is not flying, and so she had to learn, but it has quickly become her favorite.
“I kind of had to learn how to fly,” she says, “I’ve always been flexible, and I’m short, so it’s pretty easy.”
As she looks to the future, Golinvaux has to look back at her past. When asked to describe her high school experience in one word, her immediate response was growth.
“Going into high school, I was not mentally prepared for everything,” she explains, “Going through the high school experience and how different it is has helped me grow physically and mentally.”
As Golinvaux spends her last year of high school cheering for varsity, for the fourth time in a row, she will continue to give her all for her team. After all, competition season is just getting started, and Golinvaux has not graduated yet.
