Selecting a college is a hard decision for many students. however, for seniors Kendall Foshee and Chelsea Aderholt selecting a college was an easy decision after making the cheerleading teams at Samford University and the University of Alabama respectively.

For Aderholt, cheering at Alabama has been a long time dream, and everything fell into place after visiting the campus. The University of Alabama holds intensive tryouts, with only 12 positions open, 140 eager cheerleaders give their all to make the team.

“Alabama has my major, so I visited their campus and I loved it, and of course I’ve always wanted to be on their cheer team,” Aderholt said, “[The tryouts] were really scary. Going through the four cuts, and going to see if your name was on the list after each one was stressful.”

Foshee chose Samford because of its renowned pharmacy program, adding that it was her favorite school she visited. At Samford the tryouts require higher skill level than high school, putting more pressure on those trying out. Foshee says that cheerleading coach Lisa Aderholt had a large part in preparing her for the tryouts.

“Having Mrs. Aderholt push us for four years to be our best and to get all of our tumbling and stunting, and just having this experience and all the practice we got definitely helped me prepare for Samford tryouts,” Foshee said.

Foshee believes that her time at Sparkman has created many great opportunities, but she looks forward to beginning a new chapter in her cheerleading career.

“I think [cheering in college] will be a lot different from Sparkman, but I’m sure there a lot more fun things to come just cheering at a higher level, with a different crowd and for different sports,” Foshee said.

Aderholt says that though cheerleading is a huge commitment, the rewards are endless.

“It is a big time commitment but I know that I have loved every second of it. We are a family and having spent four years with that family going through high school has been really fun, and ending this year with a win was fantastic,” Aderholt said.

Both Foshee and Aderholt agree that being a Sparkman cheerleader has prepared them for them for their college journeys.

“[Being on the Sparkman cheer team] has been my favorite part of high school. having that family every year, and having that built in group of friends that you can always count on,” Foshee said, “It has pushed me to be better athletically, and in the classroom, and as a person because Mrs. Aderholt holds us to really high standards, so you have to push yourself to be the best for Mrs. Aderholt and for your teammates.”