OH senior Jules Hawkins has been on the cheer team all four years of their athletic career. Hawkins has impacted the team positively with their talent here and will continue to leave a lasting mark on the program.
Hawkins has been a standout athlete while being a varsity team member with their skills.
“I’ve been on varsity since I think freshman year, I did football season my freshman year on junior varsity but after that it’s been varsity ever since,” said Hawkins.
Interestingly enough, Hawkins started freshman year by accidentally joining the OH cheer team, intending to join the dance team, but ended up finding the perfect fit.
“I kind of joined the cheer team by accident actually and I was supposed to go to dance tryouts. [Though,] I finally found a sport that makes sense to me and kind of makes me feel at home,” said Hawkins.
Co-Head Varsity Cheerleading Coach Maggie Hill has been coaching Hawkins all of their high school career and has watched them grow to make an impact on the team over the four years.
“I think that Jules is a unique athlete for many reasons, mostly because [they] have been a pioneer in the cheer world at OH,” said Hill.
OH cheer senior Natalie Smiraowski also adds “Jules is a very enthusiastic person ready to practice everyday. [They are] a leader and keeps the team on track.”
Coach Hill and teammates of Hawkins have seen them grow into the person they are today and in different branches of skills on the team.
“As the time or years progressed [they] honed in on [their] individual skills involved in tumbling, jumps, [they’re] also just a really good athlete in stunting. Performance wise [they’ve] honed in on [their] personality of turning the cheerleader on and turning it off,” said Hill.
Credit: AmesSports Matthew Ames
Hawkins’s efforts and work is noticed by their coach but their fellow teammates “[They] bring passion to the team as well as hard work and determination. [They] never give up when a skill doesn’t work and try it until [they] get it,” said Smiraowski.
Jules has a mindset on the team and knows what they want to uphold for the team, “Not to toot my own horn but I’m probably the loudest on the team and I try to do my best to lead,” said Hawkins.
Hawkins does not leave their coaches in doubt about their performance and puts the effort in, Hill said “[They’re] definitely one of those athletes that in 10 years from now we’re going to look back and be like you need to be more like Jules, [they] go above and beyond, very detail oriented, you can tell that [they] practice, again all of that is readable in [their] performances so it’s really cool to watch.”
Hawkins’s performance and attitude does not go unnoticed by anyone on the team, especially their coach.
“You know when Jules is not there, [hey] are the life of the party, []they’re] bringing songs, [they’re] bringing dances, [they’re] bringing laughter and just like joy,” said Hill.
Hawkins has little time left in their senior year in cheer and coaches are excited for what their future holds, “I’m very excited to see, [they’ve] been exploring [their] options post-high school so I am excited to see what [they do] with that and where [they] go from here,” said Hill.
As Hawkins wraps up their senior year in OH cheer, their dedication and hard work over the past four years have set high standards for those to follow in their footsteps.
I am a senior at Oswego High school and this is my first year on 42fifty. You can contact me by emailing 42Fifty@sd308.org and putting my name in the subject line. We welcome comments on our articles and feedback on our publication!
Great article! Im so happy you have fun writing it!