West Orange Times: Sports Spotlight — Madison Cockcroft

Cockcroft is the only four year member of the Ocoee Knights cheerleading team.

By Troy Herring
| 3:16 p.m. August 13, 2019

Sports

A senior at Ocoee High, Madison Cockcroft takes to the football field and cheer mat as the only four-year varsity athlete on the Knights’ cheer squad. When she’s not cheering on her Knights, she’s taking in some Florida football with her dad or spending time at the beach with her family.

What first got you into cheer?

I’ve been cheering since I was five years old … first I did Ocoee Bulldogs, which I did for only two years and then after that my mom signed me up for competitive cheerleading, so I did that for almost eight years. When high school rolled around I tried out for the cheer team and made varsity as a freshman.

What was it about cheer that drew you to it?

I like competing and the adrenaline before (a competition) — all the excitement, and our team is just ready to go out and do what we do on the floor. That’s what really drew me to it — getting to compete in front of everybody.

What was that first year of varsity like as a freshman?

It was really different, because (in) competitive cheerleading we don’t do football games and basketball games, so it was really different coming into it, but I really liked it my freshman year. I was nervous going into tryouts and then I made the team, and it was really nerve wracking the first couple of football games, but once I knew what I was doing I really loved it.

What’s been your favorite part about cheering at Ocoee?

I really like the competitions. We do football games in fall, and in winter we start competitive cheerleading. That’s my favorite part, because it reminds (me) of when I used to do competitive cheer.

Is there a highlight for you in your four years at Ocoee?

I think winning states — I think that was the best part of everyone’s season, just because we got the state title. We’ve been working toward that for the whole year — that’s the one competition we work toward.

Is cheerleading something you plan on doing in college?

I don’t want to go for cheerleading, because I’ve been doing it for so long that I think after this year I’m going to be done just because it’s hard to get scholarships for cheerleading, too. I’m going to go to Valencia and then get my bachelor’s degree, then I want to be a Realtor.

What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?

I really just like to spend time with my family and friends at home — watch college football a lot with my dad, and baseball. And spend time at the beach a lot.