This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.
04/06/2017 12:00 AMJamie Slubowski recently completed a memorable senior season with the North Branford cheerleading team. North Branford finished the year with an excellent performance at the Class S State Championship after having cheered on its fellow Thunderbirds’ clubs throughout the preceding months. As much as Jamie enjoys competing, the senior captain gets an even bigger kick from lending support to her peers from the sidelines.
“I do love competitions, but I get very nervous because I want to do well. Competition season is more of a have-to-do-well thing as we have to come together as a team and place well,” says Jamie. “Football season is more fun for me. The games are my favorite, especially the warmer ones at the beginning of the season. I enjoy being in full uniform under the lights as the whole community is with us and cheering along with the team.”
Jamie was influenced by few of her friends to get involved with North Branford’s cheerleading program. Jamie says they showed up to school in uniform one day and, from that point on, she was right there with them wearing the purple and white.
“I saw my friends were cheerleaders, so I tried it and fell in love with it,” Jamie says. “Obviously, in 5th grade, I had no idea what I was doing. I loved cheering at the football games. I knew they competed and I saw all the cool stunts and wanted to try it. Obviously, I got better as I became a captain my senior year.”
Being a captain was a natural fit for Jamie, who says that she was raised to be a leader. Jamie’s leadership helped North Branford have its best competition season in program history this winter, culminating with the Thunderbirds’ seventh-place performance at the Class S State Championship.
“It was an honor. I was raised to be the absolute best that I can be, and I feel like being a captain really showed that all my hard work paid off. Being able to lead a team and help to better everyone was a great feeling,” says Jamie. “I feel as though I was a good leader. I did my best to give helpful advice and motivate, rather than being a dictator. I feel like I was liked as a captain and bettered a lot of the girls on the team.”
T-Birds’ Head Coach Marisa Laudano appreciates the effort put forth by Jamie each season, along with the fact that she would man any position for the betterment of her team. Laudano also praises Jamie for some of the nice things she does outside of the cheerleading squad.
“She had a great season helping me to lead the team and plan and organize events. She is leaving after being on the varsity team for four years in different positions. It wasn’t four different positions, but she came on as the flier and over the years she moved back and forth between that and basing, and that’s where she ended this year,” says Laudano. “While Jamie has been cheering, she has also held down a job and last year was volunteering at Yale. Also, this year, she volunteers her time as a tutor at North Branford Intermediate School after school.”
The fact that she could hold down both the flier and base positions made Jamie a valuable member of the North Branford cheer team. Jamie says that it didn’t matter where she was on the floor as long as she could help her squad.
“I flew from 5th grade to sophomore year and then I had to switch to being a base. I picked it up really quickly and everyone was amazed. A few days before a competition, though, I had to fly again. It was like riding a bike; you never forget,” she says. “I made the switch after sophomore year because I felt I was a greater asset to the team as a base because I was strong and the team needed me there.”
Jamie liked competing at the State Championship the most because of the exciting environment at the meet, as well as the fact that she got to see all the Class S teams in one place. While Jamie doesn’t plan on cheering in college as a freshman, she wants the sport to remain a part of her life down the road.
“I plan to go to Southern Connecticut State University for nursing and don’t plan to cheer my freshman year. I want to focus on being successful as a nurse,” Jamie says. “I’d like to be a part of cheer in some way one day, whether it be coaching or taking classes.”