The Best Of John's Journal From 2020-21/ No. 8: They Cheer, They Skate, They Inspire

The No. 8 story on the countdown of my personal favorite Top 10 John's Journal stories from the 2020-21 school year was originally posted during the hockey season on Feb. 26. It features one of the most unique groups of cheerleaders in the state, the Minneapolis public school hockey cheerleaders.

The group, which consists of talented figure skaters, originally skated during intermissions of home hockey games for the Minneapolis boys and girls teams; students from all seven Minneapolis public high schools are eligible to be members of the teams. The theme is the same for the cheerleaders, who hail from different schools.

Here’s an excerpt: Roosevelt ninth-grader Lydia Martin said her love of skating first drew her to the team, along with family tradition. Her mother was a cheerleader at Southwest and her father was the Husky mascot for St. Cloud State hockey games. Lydia said she also enjoys being part of a district-wide activity.

“It’s a sense of community. We are all from different parts of this big city, different schools, different friends, yet we come together to make one team.”

The cheerleaders do more than cheer at games. They also have built a social media following with YouTube “Hockey Talk” videos focusing on game results, their own skating prowess and lots of entertainment (videos can found by searching Minneapolis Hockey Cheerleading on YouTube, and information on other social media platforms can be found at @612RINK).

Click here to read the story: https://www.mshsl.org/about/news/johns-journal/johns-journal-they-cheer-they-skate-they-inspire