All Eyes on the Junior High Cheerleaders as Iconic Football Bowl Inches Closer

The Cheez-It Citrus Bowl will be upon us soon and the preparation has already begun in full flow. The annual college football bowl, operated by Florida Citrus Sports, will commence on January 1. The tournament began in 1947. Along with the Gator Bowl and Sun Bowl, it is one of the oldest bowls ever. Throughout December 1982, the event was earlier called the ‘Tangerine Bowl.’ While the players will encounter their moments of fame and speculation, for now, we’re all focused on the cheerleaders.

The Citrus Bowl is typically played on New Year’s Day. Although the Tangerine Bowl name was re-used nearly 20 years later, it was for three editions of a bowl game. Moreover, those editions had a different lineage.

While the teams have been eyeing the event for months, another much less-talked-about aspect of the pomp and circumstance comes with the cheerleaders. The cheerleaders are crucial to the most mass-appealing part of the bowl – the celebratory performances. So, suffice it to say that being invited to an event of this magnitude is genuinely an honor.

Cheerleaders for Citrus Bowl 2024

This year, three students have been bestowed with the honor of cheerleading on this big stage. The students hail from Boiling Springs Junior High and were recognized by their Universal Cheerleaders Association camp this month. Isabella Gonzalez, Victoria Ward, and Harmony Hockenberry, who have been invited to perform, have received recognition from several prestigious associations.

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The three cheerleaders will travel to Orlando for a week of thorough rehearsals before their performance. In fact, their performance alone is likely to see over 60,000 fans before the games even begin. Last year, the Citrus Bowl made headlines for a ground-breaking move, selecting Markeceia Erby, a Bryant High School cheerleader who also suffers from Down Syndrome, to perform.

Cheerleaders from CRHS, Dixon, and PHS among several other schools also joined the list of invitees.

More about the Bowl

The Citrus Bowl only got its Cheez-Its moniker in November 2022. The name change is attributed to a Kellogg’s sponsorship deal. After acquiring naming rights, the company used Cheez-Its as the bowl’s title sponsor. As of 2019, at $8.55 million for every team, the bowl has the largest payout, barring those from competitors that are part of the College Football Playoff (CFP). In almost every year since 1985, the Citrus Bowl has featured two of America’s top 25 teams.

As the days and months go by in the lead-up to the game, many more announcements for cheerleaders and other personnel are expected. With all eyes on the prize, seeing who emerges victorious this year will be a matter of great speculation.

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