By BROOKLYN BROWN
One Feather Reporter
Cherokee, N.C. – The Tsalagi Cougars are the regional cheer group competing in the North Carolina Senior Games. Beginning last year and earning a second-place medal, the team, representing the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, has grown in numbers and excitement, gunning for first place at the 2024 Senior Games happening in Raleigh Sept. 16-22.
The Tsalagi Cougars cheer team is shown, left to right, back row – John David Arch, Renee Cole, Terri Bradley, Cynthia Grant, Lisa Penick, Missy Wachacha Crowe, Deb Owle, Richard Bottchenbaugh Jr.; front row – Sherri Watterson, Patty Grant Edgemon, Nikki Crisp, Rock Burgess, Kim Wildcatt, Kim Sneed Lambert, Bernice Bottchenbaugh, and Loretta Bolden. (BROOKLYN BROWN/One Feather photos)
The Cougars’ captain Deb Owle is cheering alongside her cheer mate from Cherokee High School, Lisa Penick. “I enjoyed cheering in high school. I was class of ’82. And my friend Lisa, she cheers. She’s the one that approached me and said, ‘Deb, let’s cheer.’ And I said, ‘Okay!’ It’s just fun. It keeps me active and moving. It keeps my body and mind healthy.”
The team has been practicing their routine since January to prepare for competition. “People don’t realize that cheerleading is a sport. I mean, we leave here sweating. We’re working out; we’re doing a whole routine that’s right at three minutes,” Owle said.
“I think the oldest one of us is 72 or 73. And this year we’ve added two guys. We’ve got a larger group this year, which is good. It just keeps everybody active, competitive, and there’s companionship.”
Penick, who has been competing in various events in the Senior Games for 10 years, says Cherokee brings the biggest groups to compete. “We may not win all the gold medals, but we do really good because we’re like the U.S. in that way, we bring so many people.”
Owle and Penick posited that the community’s competitiveness and enjoyment of fellowship is the reason so many seniors compete.
“We get together and we talk. I think that’s good for seniors to get together. I like getting with everybody just to fellowship,” Penick said.
The “Over 70” group includes Patty Grant Edgemon, Rock Burgess, Bernice Bottchenbaugh, and Loretta Bolden.
Tsalagi Cougar Nikki Crisp added, “Our elders are very competitive. They like being able to compete and spend time with each other. That’s really what it is. Keeping in touch, laughing with each other. That’s good to see and watch and hear.”
Several members of the squad listed comradery as one of their favorite parts of being a Tsalagi Cougar. “We all seem to enjoy each other. We’re very supportive of each other. I came in late, and they were all so good to me and really helped me catch up and welcomed me. That seemed to be how they all treated each other, and I wasn’t any different,” Patty Grant Edgemon said.
The Cougars will need the community cheering them on as they bring their hard work to the stage. Owle leaves the community with these parting words: “We want to come back with gold. Go Cougars!”
