Davis Wade Stadium in Starkville seats 60,133 people — now imagine it filled to capacity 311 times. That’s roughly how many people have viewed just one video of a cheer by the Columbus Middle School cheerleaders on TikTok alone.
So far 18.7 million people have watched and 4.2 million have liked a video on CMS Cheer coach Ashely Hill’s TikTok (@falconscheerlady) of CMS cheerleaders putting their own spin on a cheer called “Pass the Ball.” That isn’t counting the views and likes from accounts like the SportsCenter Next Instagram page, ESPN’s official high school sports page, which has reposted the video.
“I think what we got out of going viral is that we inspired so many kids to want to be a cheerleader or even come to Columbus,” Hill said.
“That was a good thing — just to bring recognition to our city because we’re not just known in Mississippi. We have people commenting that are from different countries. That was something (the squad) needed to see.”
What eighth-grade cheer squad captain Tamiya Baldwin and cheerleader Madison Murray like the most about their newfound viral fame isn’t that they are more recognized, it’s that they’re inspiring others and crowds are more interactive with their cheers.
“It shows people you can do anything,” Murray said. “We’re out there cheering, and if there’s something you want to do, do it. We’re all aiming for the best. … People from other schools come to see us because it’s viral on TikTok. Sometimes they’ll do the cheers along with us. It’s nice to see them interacting with us.”
The “Pass the Ball” cheer shies away from traditional cheers and incorporates a stomp and shake style, which Hill said is often used at historically Black colleges and universities. Typically, the cheerleaders learn six to eight new cheers a day and often put their own spin on them to get the crowd engaged.
CMS Cheer practices three times a week, and the squad performs at events year-round, though the two eighth-graders agreed they prefer basketball over football for many reasons but mostly because of the creativity that comes with basketball.
“I like basketball season better because the cheers are more hype,” Murray said.
“There’s definitely more freedom for creativity because I don’t know too much about football, but I know a lot about basketball,” Baldwin said.
The newfound fame has also come with a few invites to two competitions in January. The squad of 14 cheerleaders and a mascot has been invited to a competition in Jackson and one in Atlanta, Georgia.
Baldwin and Murray said they’re excited for the new experience going to a competition will give them since neither has ever gone to a cheer competition. However, the trip does come with expenses.
“We have one coming up on January 15 that we’re raising money for,” Hill said. “We also have one on January 28. With the video being viral, we’ve opened up to many new opportunities for growth.”
Hill said to register for the Atlanta competition, it’s $1,000 alone, and for each member of the squad to attend it’s roughly $800 per student because of hotel stay, transportation and food.
The squad is working on raising money on their own and trying to find people or businesses in the community to sponsor the team through the Columbus Municipal School District’s athletic department.
Overall, the young team is happy people are coming to games and engaging with them. Murray said she likes cheerleading because it allows her to be creative and pursue her passion of dance in a new way, and Baldwin said she likes the sense of unity being part of a team brings.
“Being a cheerleader has made me feel like part of a team,” Baldwin said. “I’ve met new people this year and last year. … The fact we went viral shows our unity as a team.”
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VIDEO: Watch CMS’s viral cheer on The Dispatch’s YouTube channel at youtube.com/@DispatchVideo/shorts
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