Even before Anneliese Pham was in first grade, she developed an interest in movement-performing sports such as dance and tumbling. The sophomore’s enthusiasm has not waned since then. In addition to continuing to pursue those activities, Anneliese has parlayed that experience into cheerleading. In her second year with the Foxes squad, Anneliese already has gained notoriety as the young lady who does the showstopping consecutive backflips down the court at Foxes basketball games.
Anneliese says ever since she can remember, she has been able to do multiple back handsprings and other acrobatics. By the time she was 7 years old, she had mastered the trick and now has built up to 13 flips on the court. She might be able to do more, she says, but is limited by the size of the gym. She could also throw in some one-handed cartwheels but prefers the flips.
“I was put into gymnastics at a very young age and began competing in middle school,” says Anneliese, the owner of many gold medals. “I have been interested in cheer ever since I watched the movie ‘Bring It On.’ I just love to stunt and tumble.”
Anneliese gets a kick out of the children who come up and ask her all sorts of questions but says her funniest interaction came from an adult. “Someone jokingly asked me if I was the one who walks off the floor ‘drunk,’ because of how dizzy I am after doing so many flips.”
Anneliese’s background and fearlessness have led to her to become proficient in just about every roll in the cheer team’s repertoire. She is a flyer for the squad, meaning the cheerleader who stands at the top of a stunt, and has mastered many skills, but her biggest goal is to perfect her Liberty. It is a difficult maneuver when she is lifted by about four of her teammates into the air. Then, she must gracefully balance on one leg, lift her free leg, and place the arch of her foot directly next to the knee on the balancing leg.
Cheerleading coach Aleta Balcer says of Anneliese, “She is our most experienced tumbler. Anneliese is full of energy and always willing to listen and learn. She is the kind of person who, once taught a new skill, will continue to work on it until she masters it. She is not one to give up. And, she is the kind of person who is always smiling and will make you laugh.”
A Natural Gymnast
Like a lot of young girls, Anneliese became enamored with gymnastics while watching the Olympics. Her goal back then was to make the U.S. team, and things were going well for her, but when she was 12, right after she had won regionals and states with her club team, she sustained a serious elbow injury. She only got back to competing last year after a two-year absence and since then, has mainly concentrated on the floor exercise and balance beam.
“Coming back was nerve-wracking at first, but it has been really good,” says Anneliese, whose character is one of determination, and she will try over and over again to master a task, no matter how long it takes.
“My goals since my injury are just to have fun and enjoy the sport I had grown up doing,” she says of her experiences with the Foxes gymnastics team. “If I fall, I will get back up and try again.”
Anneliese credits muscle memory for her ability to regain her gymnastics skills so quickly. While she was a bit shaky at first, this season she is a WPIAL qualifier in the floor exercise.
“Honestly, just with hours and hours of putting time into this sport, and so many years of former dance experience, I guess it’s just what my body has learned to do. I knew it was possible for me to qualify (for WPIALs), it was just a lot harder this year since there were fewer meets,” says the sophomore, whose goal is to return to full strength. “On the floor, I do many hard passes, but the one that’s the most tiresome is a front handspring step-out roundoff back handspring layout.”
Balancing cheer, gymnastics, an advanced studies academic load, and her job schedules can get a bit tricky, especially during the winter as she dashes from one practice to another and then home for dinner and homework. She seems to thrive on the hustle, though, and she’s not done yet! In the spring, Anneliese will start training for another season with the Foxes track and field team. Her specialties are the high jump and 100-yard dash.
“I would like to try the pole vault this year too!” exclaims the cheerful 10th-grader who never seems to run out of ideas to master new challenges.
Chances are, she will succeed at that too, or at least give it everything she’s got trying to get there.