Women’s poms to split halftime performances with men’s poms
The Wildcat’s women’s poms team prepares to perform at the 2021 fall pep rally. After the men’s poms team performed at the spring pep rally in 2022, it was announced that they would perform at most home football games next year.
On March 31, it was announced that the Walter Johnson men’s poms team would replace the women’s poms team next year at most football games. While just a few weeks ago, this move would have been very surprising since the women’s team is coming off a county championship. However, after the men’s teams’ performance at the spring pep rally, very few people are shocked.
“I was just in awe. This was the first time I saw the men’s team perform and I do not think I have ever been that excited watching a performance,” freshman Aner Eldar said.
The athletic department took a few days to discuss the change before making the final decision. They took many opinions from staff, students, athletes and coaches.
“We believe that by making these changes to our athletic program, attendance at football games will skyrocket due to the increased excitement amongst students. While we think that the women’s team will do much better in competitions, the men’s team brings an extra element of laughter into their performance which is why we think they will be great addition for halftime during football games,” WJ athletic director Tom Rogers said.
Reactions from athletes on the women’s poms team were mixed as most were very disappointed while others understood the switch and are focusing on repeating as county champions.
“I wish that we were still able to perform at every home game. Although the men’s poms team had a great performance, I still think that we are a lot better and more synchronized than they are. I am glad that we will still be able to defend our title at the championships though,” sophomore women’s pom Olivia Hookman-Vassa said.
The men’s team is ecstatic that they will be performing more often next year. While many of them are seniors who are graduating, they are really happy that they were able to impact the program and give their team more opportunities to perform next year.
“We as a team are just really proud of how we are shaping the future of WJ poms with two teams performing throughout the season. I am really excited for future male pom athletes to have the chance to perform many times throughout next year,” senior men’s pom Henry Ponyicsanyi said.
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Joshua Singer is a junior and is ecstatic to be a Print Editor-in-Chief in his second full year on The Pitch. In his free time, Josh enjoys running, playing...
