The Bathgate All Stars, our cheerleading team, brought home another chip after winning last year. This year they managed to deliver an 18-0 season. They clinched the victory against the Wingate Lady Generals 95-89 in a heated championship showdown that took place during a home match on April 18th, 2026.
The road to the title was not always easy for the All Stars. “Honestly, there were a lot of challenges in the way…not having consistent practice with the team made it really hard,” said Captain Maya Felize.
Bathgate had to contend with more than just cheers from their opposing team. Wingate had accused them of copying their cheers on social media, as well as on the court. In the second quarter, Wingate called a skills challenge, where teams can win almost double the points (8 points). They cheered, “Bulldogs who? Bulldogs what? Oh we know… the ones who COPYCAT?! Now copy this!” The All Stars huddled to decide how to respond, but there wasn’t enough time to change their Skills Challenge routine. Their performance, normally guaranteed to win 8 points, only earned 6. At halftime, they were down 49-50.
In the third quarter, another Skills Challenge was called. When Bathgate made their entrance, the team lined up and three girls stood in the back holding posters while standing on chairs. Co-captain Janice Feliz pointed at Wingate and shouted “They claim we wanna be like them… but y’all wanna be like us!” Then the whole team yelled: “GET ON OUR LEVEL!”
The crowd went crazy after that.
Then Tanisha Clotter stepped forward and started talking about the things people were saying online. One of the posters showed screenshots of Wingate cheerleaders talking about Bathgate on social media. Another two posters showed old scores from games. One said 88-86 and another said 95-65. At that point everybody in the gym was reacting and yelling.
The whole momentum changed after that moment. Bathgate started taking control of the game little by little and Wingate never fully got the lead back. The final score was 95-89.
“I don’t really let it bother me, but I feel as though it’s very ignorant of them because their cheers aren’t original,” said Tanisha about claims that Bathgate copied Wingate’s cheers.
The All Stars answered criticism from their opponents with their performance and championship victory. “I feel really excited,” said co-captian Brihanna Torres Silvestre. I’m very proud of my team. We’ve had a lot of work throughout this whole season, and I feel like we deserve this big win.”
The Bathgate team has freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors from all three schools: AMS, Mott Hall Bronx, and Validus Preparatory Academy. Bathgate stayed focused and completed a perfect season with a championship victory. With only four seniors leaving the team, most members will go on to compete again next year, and they are looking to make history by winning it all three years in a row.
