The Polson cheer team has been working hard for the last few months, gearing up for tournament time. Their project made its first public appearance a few weeks ago at a Polson girls basketball game.

“We like to give the home crowd a preview before tournaments,” head coach Alisha Valentine said.

Valentine and assistant coach Marete Frame came up with the routine. It’s not for a competition, it’s only for the tournaments, Valentine said. “We are usually known to have a good routine,” she said.

Making a routine is a lot harder than it looks. Valentine and Frame come up with the routine each year. It takes a lot of time to make sure everything works. “It’s a lot of trial and error,” Frame said.

It takes hours to come up with the music, then more time to choreograph the routine.

“Certain sounds look better with different routines and stunt,” she said. When Valentine and Frame finished with that part, they had to teach it to the kids. For the winter season, the team has 10 girls and five boys. That’s more than they have during the fall season. “Some of the boys play fall sports,” Valentine said.

Along with throwing the girls in the air, the boys have also taken up parts of the dance. “We really appreciate them,” Valentine said, “It really adds to the routine.”

It also adds to the entertainment, as many members of the crowd cracked up watching the boys show off their moves.

To make the routine come together, the timing of each stunt has to be perfect. Frame said their routine this year has nine formations.

The team performed at the divisional basketball tournaments in Butte last weekend, and will travel to the boys state tournament in Missoula this weekend.