Tragedy Brings Out The Best of West Texas Cheer Squads

SAN ANGELO, TX – During times of tragedy, everyone joins together to support those affected. The same rings true for the Iraan cheer squad, who, following a tragic accident last Friday, will be receiving the support and love from cheer squads located all across West Texas.

This Friday night, the Iraan Braves will be facing the Wellington Rockets in a neutral playoff game; the teams will be playing at the Abilene P.E. Shotwell Stadium. Even though the team is 14-0, many supporters will be there on behalf of the Iraan Cheer Squad.

Following the tragic death of their cheer sponsor and having several cheerleaders injured (read that story here), the squad could really use community support. Thus, the cheer squad is selling t-shirts to raise money and has also opened a bank account for any donations that can be made.

Schools like Grape Creek, Sterling City, Paint Rock, Irion, Brady and Bronte will be a few of the local school cheer squads who will be in the stands ready to help and support the Iraan girls in any way they can.

“We are a very close-knit community where everyone supports everyone,” a representative of Irion High School said.

For many of the schools, the tragic passing of Mrs. Liz Pope, the Iraan Cheer Sponsor,  hit close to home. Schools, such as Sterling City and Brady, had attended cheer camps with the Iraan girls and their sponsor.

“We are a family, and it really hit home that that could be anyone of us out there [in that situation],” a representative of Brady High School said. “We wanted to support them and let them know that we all care.”

“The girls just felt they really need to be there for those cheerleaders who are hurt and lost someone they cared about.” Sterling City High School Cheer Sponsor said.

Grape Creek will also be contributing in a variety of ways to the event this Friday. Parterning up with Hobby Lobby, GCHS Cheerleaders will not only attend the game and show their support, but will also distribute ribbons as a way for the spectators and students to share their support for Iraan. This is made possible with a donation by the store. A high quality sign created and designed by Hobby Lobby has been donated and will be taken to the game. The sign reads “Go Braves”.

“Everyone is willing to help and our school is very supportive of the cheer squad going [to Abilene],” Grape Creek Cheer sponsor said of their involvement in the Friday night game.

Several schools, such as Water Valley, Miles, Veribest, Menard, Wall and Eldorado will be unable to attend largely in part of their participation in basketball tournaments. In the case of Wall, they will be playing their own playoff game.

However, the majority of these schools are showing their support by wearing Iraan’s school colors to school and posting both pictures and videos to cheer their support.

This gathering of support has been made possible by BRAVE Strong Cheerleaders, a Facebook page that works to unite many districts, and offers fans the opportunity to express their support and purchase t-shirts available. The page administrators wished to maintain the focus on the Iraan Community and were currently unavailable for comment.

Supporters can search for the BRAVE Strong Cheerleader Page on Facebook, or attend the Iraan versus Wellington playoff game in Abilene at 7 p.m. The stadium is located at 1525 E.S. 11th.

UPDATE December 8, 2016 @ 4:00 p.m.

Central High School Cheerleaders have confirmed they will also be supporting the Iraan squad tomorrow night and have purchased shirts in order to help with donations. They will also be wearing red and black ribbons in their hair a sigh of support for the squad. 

"There is a lot of hurt going on and we really feel for them," Bethany, a Central Cheerleader said, "We really to be there  for them and make sure they have everything they need."