The Redhawks take on the UIL State Spirit cheerleading competition on Thursday at the Fort Worth Convention Center, with the team taking the mat in the 5A-1 Division amongst teams all across the state including that of seven other Frisco schools.

For sophomore Carly Bianchin, this competition is more than just another one for the books. It is a chance to compete alongside one of the people she loves most, her sister, freshman Carsyn Bianchin.

“Normally you would think that having a sibling on the same team would be hard but I actually don’t really mind it,” Carly said. “It’s nothing that’s really big. I mean, she is my sister and I love her no matter what so cheering alongside her will be really fun.”

Being one of the few freshmen given the opportunity to compete this year, Carsyn feels that it will not be too nerve racking considering she is one of the two freshmen who made the junior varsity team this school year.

“To be honest, it does not feel super different being on UIL and JV but we do work a lot harder because we want to make it into finals,” Carsyn said. “It does feel kind of normal though just because I am already on a team with upperclassmen. I am still grateful for the opportunity and excited to be on the UIL team.”

First year coach, Callie Nelson is excited to watch her athletes perform, even if it’s not how it was originally intended.

“UIL state looks a little different this year due to covid, but the overall process is still pretty similar,” Nelson said via email. “This will be my first year going to the UIL competition, but it has been fun to watch the girls learn and challenge themselves in class.  I’m excited to see how the performance as a whole turns out.”

Expectations for the competition are high according to sophomore Kennedy Eder considering all of the practice time the team has put in.

“I think we will do pretty well because we have been practicing for a while now,” Eder said. “We started preparing pretty early on in the season and we kind of pulled everything together a little later on but that is typically what we do to keep ourselves on our feet.”

With competition just around the corner, the team is eager to see all of the hard work they have put in pay off at the end to hopefully make the finals competition.

“As a team we usually work really hard all of the way until the end by changing things around last minute to keep us on our feet because we perform better under pressure,” Eder said. “I am excited to see how our work has paid off and enjoy an end to the season with my teammates.”