“This is Warrior Nation!” The high school’s cheerleaders cried as they begin their routine at the TD Garden during the Celtics pre-game show on Friday, November 14th.

According to new co-coach Erin Sheedy-Amatucci, the Celtics pre-game performance is a culmination of everything that the cheerleading team has worked towards this season.

The opportunity to perform pre-game is offered by the Celtics administration to teams in return for selling a certain number of tickets. Sheedy-Amatucci said the team exceeded all of their selling goals.

Freshman Tiara Ranson said that the goal for the Celtics pre-game performance was to have loud voices and improve the sharpness of their movements.

“The Celtics, it’s gigantic,” Ranson said. “You want to make sure that everyone can hear you, but you also want to look good.”

Junior Amit Arbel said the performance was a success and a great opportunity for the team.

“It was an amazing experience because we got to perform at a bigger venue,” Arbel said. “It went really well I think. I would say that is the best we have done.”

According to senior and cheerleading team co-captain Karina Da Rosa, this performance allowed the team to be seen on their own because the cheer team does much more than it appears on the football field.

“People don’t come to competitions when we go,” Da Rosa said. “They only see us when we are at football games and we are cheering for the boys. It’s much harder than it looks because we don’t do all the things that we do at competition on the football field.” Da Rosa said.

Last season the team wasn’t competitive, but this year they have already competed in four competitions, according to Sheedy-Amatucci. Among other things the two new coaches, Amatucci and Meaghan Cells have helped to increase the productivity, organization and competitive experience of the team, according to Da Rosa. Arbel, a second year cheerleader, agrees.

“They’re so dedicated to the team, they are there every step of the way and they don’t just work during practice,” Arbel said. “They work outside of practice. Whatever we need, they are there for us and their head is completely in the game. Our dynamics with them just work very, very well.”

The team has gone to almost all the varsity football games, both home and away, competed in three invitational competitions and the Bay State Conference League Competition. All on top of preparing for their own events, such as the Powderpuff pep rally.

The team placed second in their division at the first competition, and scored their personal best at their third.

The new competitive side of the team gives them a venue to present all of their hard work and improvement.

Arbel said that the opportunity to perform in four competitions was very meaningful.

“We were able to present all of the hard work that we have put into practices and that was a major improvement this year,” Arbel said.

According to Sheedy-Amatucci, the team has an extremely trusting dynamic which contributes to their successes and positive attitudes because it allows the girls to feel more comfortable with each other.

“A lot of sports rely on the team to score or for defense and things like that, but literally your teammates are holding you in their hands, so it takes a lot of trust,” Sheedy-Amatucci said. “They do work super hard, and they are focused through the work, but then they are also encouraging each other to try new and sometimes scary things.”

Da Rosa said every person on the new team brings a variety of skills and talents while still learning new things.

“Everyone on our team has different characteristics that they bring that are really highlighted,”  Da Rosa said. ”Some people have skills that are directly important for cheer like flexibility, like a loud voice, but all of us have different aspects that we bring that allow us to be really successful as a whole. We are setting the bar higher for ourselves and making new standards for our team.”

Maya Piken can be contacted at [email protected]