Monday, April 29, 2024
Gatesville Independent School District has recently announced that two Gatesville High School alumni will be the new cheer coaches of the district.
The position of the varsity and junior high cheer coach will be fulfilled by Amber Colson, and the junior varsity team will be led by Cassie Perez.
Both ladies are well known throughout the community since they already work within the school district.
Colson first began her journey with Gatesville ISD in 2015. She is currently teaching kindergarten at Gatesville Primary and will later transfer to Gatesville Elementary in the fall.
This will be her fifth year with the cheer team, as she has helped coach throughout the years.
Perez is serving her ninth year at Gatesville ISD and is in her second year as a school counselor at Gatesville Elementary.
Perez was once a cheerleader and mascot for the high school and expressed that she believes her experience will help her connect with the team because she understands the hard work and dedication it takes to be in their position.
“I think coming full circle from being a cheerleader and mascot to becoming a coach for the program at Gatesville High School is pretty special,” Perez said.
“Amber and I have worked together in the past as kindergarten teachers, and we balance each other out well,” Perez said. “We have high expectations for both teams for the upcoming season.”
Colson explained that this year she is planning to physically improve as a team with advanced stunt skills and tumbling, with hopes to be the first team to make finals at the State UIL Competition. She would also like to support more organizations to help create a true home field/court advantage.
“I am really excited to see the team transition throughout the program at different levels and watch them continue to grow and reach their full potential,” Colson said.
Perez said that she has been watching many of the cheerleaders and Buzz perform since they were in junior high, so she is excited to work with and challenge them to improve personally and as a program.
Most of the seniors at Gatesville High School are around the age of Perez’s son, so she expressed how this group is very special to her.
“I would like to see them grow together as a team and build confidence in themselves,” she said. “We have a lot of talented athletes in our program, and we know they will do an amazing job next season.”
“Amber and Holly Redford have done a great job with the program in the past, and we want to continue growing the program in the years to come,” Perez said. “We have some new things implemented and exciting things planned.”
As there will be many new additions to the cheer program, one of those will be a new custom one-of-a-kind Buzz costume to match the logo of the school. The costume will be purchased through tiered sponsorship.
The cheer program’s fundraising goal is $15,000 to purchase the mascot costume.
There are a few different ways to sponsor the costume, which include the platinum sponsor for $2,500, the gold sponsor for $1,000, the silver sponsor for $500, and the bronze sponsor for $250. For further details on what is received with each sponsor, contact Amber Colson at acolson@gatesvilleisd.org.
All sponsorship donations are tax-deductible and are payable to Gatesville ISD for “Buzz the Hornet Sponsorship.”
“I am planning to work with Buzz a lot during next season; she is an amazing mascot. I am excited to collaborate with her to make her senior year special,” Perez said. “Having her out and about at many events will help bring more school spirit to the students and community.”
Colson and Perez both expressed how they are excited for the new Buzz costume, as it will represent Gatesville ISD with pride and honor.
“I love having the opportunity to build relationships with my teams and witness them grow as not only cheerleaders, but people too,” Colson said. “It is so rewarding to see how excited and proud they are when they are able to accomplish a goal that they have set for themselves or for the team.”
