GENEVA - Rachel Bucci has a lot going on in her life right now.
A Geneva High School senior, Bucci, 17, divides her time between work, friends, planning for her final year of high school and putting in at least two hours a day of varsity cheerleading practice.
“People don’t really think of cheerleaders as dedicated,” Bucci said. “People say, ‘its not a sport,’ but we are really dedicated. We sweat and run and practice.”
The girls practice for two hours a day, five days a week and have even had their own two-a-day practices.
“It’s a lot of work, but we all really love it,” she said.
Bucci has been cheering since seventh grade. It has brought her focus and lifelong friends.
“The squad does everything together. I mean, we are always doing stuff, and there is very little drama,” she said.
The seven-girl squad has no captain, keeping the girls equals in a team led by adviser Crystal Carcell.
“Tumbling takes a lot of practice,” she said. “But it’s a mind thing. You can’t let it get to you. You just have to get out there and do it and not think about it.”
Bucci, who works at Chops Restaurant and Tap House in Harpersfield Township and at Bennett Industries in Geneva, said her busy schedule is supported by her parents, Karen and Phil Cordova of Geneva, and Dennis and Marcia Bucci of Painesville.
Bucci said while she loves cheering in high school, her red and white uniform will be put on a clothes hanger when she graduates.
“I can’t imagine high school without cheerleading because it is so much fun,” Bucci said. “But I am doing some post-secondary courses at Kent State Ashtabula Campus this year and I will go to college locally, so I think cheerleading will stay in high school for me.”
Graduating with the class of 2009 is a bittersweet honor for Bucci, who hopes to make her senior year her best year ever.
“I am going to be so sad to be done,” Bucci said. “I have a lot of great memories. But I’m also excited to move on and of course I’ll take all the lessons and experiences I learned in cheerleading with me.”
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