Flipping hand over hand, being tossed into the air….not as easy as it may seem. But for varsity cheerleaders Kara and Kaylee Sherman, it’s all in a day’s work.

Both of them have their reasons for joining cheerleading.

“When I went to the games, I knew I wanted to be a part of that,” Kara, a freshman, said.

Kaylee, a junior, had been dancing for years, and wanted to be involved in a dance-related activity at GBS.

Kaylee and Kara have developed a dynamic over their time on the GBS cheerleading squad.

“They’re good role models for each other,” Stephanie Self, varsity cheerleading coach, said. “They work at practice and outside of practice on motivating each other. They’re very encouraging and accepting of each other, too.”

Kaylee and Kara have a unique ability to push each other to the limit, according to junior cheerleader Courtney Zsitek.

“They know each other’s strengths and weaknesses,” Zsitek said. “So they’re able to push each other to their limits more because they know that each other can push each other harder.”

According to Kara, Kaylee is always encouraging her to improve her skills.

There have been several instances where the sisters’ rapport shows through, according to Self.

“When Kara doesn’t fix something or isn’t going to throw something, [Kaylee will say], ‘Kara, We’ve worked on this, I’ve told you what to do, you need to point your toes and you need to squeeze your legs together, you can do it, come on,’” Self said. “And she’ll push her and motivate her like that because she knows she could do it, and as her sister she has worked with her for years on it. So she expects a lot out of Kara, I think.”

The sisters have been involved in dance- and gymnastics-related activities for years, but both started cheerleading in their respective freshman years at Glenbrook South, according to Kaylee.

“I started cheerleading at GBS freshman year…but I did gymnastics throughout middle school and elementary school,” Kaylee said.

Their parents have been very supportive for their cheerleading activities, according to Kaylee.

“They come to every game and competition, even away games that can be super far away,” Kaylee said.

Self has also been an integral part of their cheerleading careers, according to Kaylee. Self is in her fourth year as varsity cheerleading coach at Glenbrook South.

“Our coach is so involved,” Kaylee said. “She’s changed the program around a lot. She’s very inspirational and she always has a solution about everything,”

The sisters have to maintain a balance between religion and cheerleading, according to Kaylee.

“We have to balance…we have church on Sundays, but we also have games and practice sometimes on days of church activities…” said Kaylee.

“We might have games on days of church activities.” Kara said “We always focus on church activities.”

Kaylee and Kara wake up at 5:30 in the morning to go to their Mormon church classes.

Their religion does not interfere with their cheerleading, according to Self.

“They’re very respectful of their religion as is everyone on the team,” Self said.

Earlier this year, Kaylee was accepted to a college-level cheerleading camp in Honolulu, Hawaii, according to Self.

“This is her second year being accepted,” Self said. “They only take about five percent of their past campers on the next year. She’s hoping to go back this summer and it’s basically practice for college cheerleading, which is one of her goals.”

Both Kaylee and Kara said they plan on continuing their cheerleading careers through college.

“I’d like to try out for a college team,” Kaylee said. “I’d like to do co-ed; that would be ideal.”