Freshman Oliver Davis started the music. Hip-hop played as he walked through the routine he’d only practiced once. All of the hopeful cheerleaders stood anxiously in the Shawnee Mission Northwest Gym. Waiting for the results, which would be uploaded that night onto Instagram, 

“I had one of my friends with me, so I was less nervous,” Davis said. 

As he waited for his turn, an interpreter stood off to the side, translating in ASL for Davis when needed and aiding him with the counts. 

Davis has hearing loss, once he takes his hearing aids out, he is completely deaf. 

“It’s nice to have someone there to help me, and they are there to give me support.” Davis said of his two district-provided sign language interpreters. 

Davis is a freshman on varsity. 

He’s only cheered for one year, after doing gymnastics for six. 

“I’m used to all the tumbling and flips,” Davis said. “Since I’m the only freshman, all the girls are used to high school, used to each other. I just wanted to try something new.”

The National Cheerleaders Association (NCA) camp was held on July 20-23rd during the summer in hopes to strengthen the cheer team’s skills and bonds with one another. From 8:30 in the morning to 9:00 in the evening, Oliver Davis had been camped out at camp. Before the adrenaline wore out and exhaustion set in from a long day of running through routines, Oliver spent his days meeting new people from around the Kansas City area. Davis would practice with the NCA staff and get private lessons on tips on how to improve and refine the cheer routines. 

“It was different from what I’m used to,” Davis said. “You were meeting lots of different teams, getting a new experience.”

On the last day of camp, people started lining up and cheer teams waited – not so patiently – as the NCA staff started with the end-of-camp speech. While other schools had gotten the spirit stick during camp, Northwest hadn’t and the team had started to doubt themselves. 

“And the spirit stick goes to…!” the NCA staff starts, their voices booming through the silent ballroom as cheer teams sit impatiently in circles. 

After one final glance around the room, the staff looked at a team sitting in orange and black uniforms, and said, “Shawnee Mission Northwest!” 

Shrieks and cheers burst from cheerleaders and coaches huddled together as they accepted the spirit stick for the first time all camp. 

“Other teams had gotten it for the day,” Davis said. “We weren’t expecting to get it, I was emotional.” 

After the claps and cheers died down, everyone hugged, celebrating their spirit stick win. 

“It felt so surreal to be a part of a big family like that,” Davis said. “I honestly just couldn’t believe we got it in my first year at camp. NW cheer hadn’t gotten that award in years.”