October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, and each year, Leyden dedicates one football game this month specifically to spreading awareness for breast cancer. This year, the game will be held on Friday, October 10, 2014. During halftime the Leydenettes Poms squad and the Leyden Cheer team will be performing a routine together. Even though they are two separate teams, they are coming together for a cure to breast cancer and making a difference!

Both teams are also selling beanie hats for $10 a hat. These hats are navy blue with the Leyden eagle on the front and “cheer for a cure” logo on the back. Find any cheerleader or Leydenette to purchase a hat because all proceeds go to Loyola’s Breast Oncology Center.

Cheer captains Ashley Pesch and Alexis Garcia are both very excited for this. Pesch said, “I think that it is great that we are doing a routine together! Poms and cheer usually do not get a chance to spend time together and get to know each other, so this is a great way to do it! A lot of people think that there is a rivalry between poms and cheer but doing things together shows that there is not and we are all one.”

Garcia added, “It’s great to have both teams joining forces to spread awareness about breast cancer.  It’s just another way for us to come together as a school for something good in the community. Poms get to be cheerleaders for a day and cheerleaders get to be a part of poms.”

Poms team members are also grateful for this opportunity. Diana Csercse said, “It is such a great opportunity and a fun experience to be able to perform with about 40 girls and to be supporting breast cancer all at once!” Another captain, Meghan Hanrahan stated, “Being able to combine technique from dance and hit some sharp cheer motions is not something we get to do each performance! This performance has showed how diverse each team is and also how amazing things can be when we put two amazing teams together!”

The teams worked on this performance for a total of three practices. Poms style is very flowy yet cheer is sharp movements, chants, and stunts, which creates a very unique, must-see performance. Both teams hope to see lots of pink in the stands and hope to raise much awareness as possible during this special night held at West Leyden. Wear pink and go Leyden!