We all know our student athletes just because of who they are on the team but what kind of person is that wearing the uniform?
By Adriana Castillo
Redwood High School has put together a great varsity football and cheer team with an amazing group of young men and women who all have different stories, interest, and backgrounds.
Autumn Flores, ’26, is a varsity cheerleader who says, “I started cheer when I was 10 years old and I liked the idea of cheering at football games and being with friends and everything, having a community at Redwood, and it was a good way to expose myself to people at Redwood because I hadn’t known anybody before I came here”.
Outside of cheer, Flores says, “I like to crochet. It’s a fun hobby that I like to do to get away from sports and I started this two years ago”.
But, she says, “I care about cheer a lot. I’m committed to this team and other teams for cheer. I want to cheer in college. It’s like a future that I want to go into”
Jillian Craycraft, ’26, is a varsity cheerleader and has been a dancer for 15 years at Dancer’s Edge.
“I’m also in advanced orchestra. I love orchestra so much and I play the violin.” Craycraft says.
Craycraft started to take an interest in cheer because, “I used to come to football games and see my brother playing his saxophone during the halftimes, but I really loved watching the cheerleaders and I was really inspired by them when I was little. I kind of always knew I wanted to be a cheerleader.”
She says, “I love cheer so much. I think it is such an amazing sport that brings together so many people and I think that everyone should do cheer.”
Varsity football player Emmanuel Galicia, ’27, “I’ve been playing since middle school and I just really like the sport.”
Outside of football, he says “I do wrestling and I have been doing it since my freshmen, so for three years”.
But Galicia says”I care about football a lot. I would pick it over a lot of things. If I could go pro I would”.
Jackson Franks is also a junior varsity football player
Outisde of football, he says” I play baseball inside and outside of school. I have been playing since I was about three or four”.
Franks shared how he got started with the sport, saying, “I always liked football growing up and a lot of my friends are doing it, so it’s a fun experience to try out for and I like it so I stick with it.”
He also spoke about the future, saying, “If the opportunity does appear to show, then yes I will continue football outside of high school.”
All of these players and performers may wear the same colors on the field, but their motives, backgrounds, and hobbies are what make each of them unique.
Adriana Castillo
Tags: personalities, Redwood
