When people think of cheerleaders they usually think of girls, uniforms, and dance routines. People would not think of two senior cheerleaders cheering their hearts out during a basketball game. Leonie Lear and Julie Irinco have been bringing basketball games to life by doing just that.     

These two unique cheerleaders are sisters. When Alisal opened in 1965, Irinco was a junior at Salinas High, where she eventually graduated from. Lear entered Alisal in 1965. She was an athlete in high school and played many sports- volleyball, track, modern dance, gymnastics, and of course, basketball. She was even part of the Pom-pom Girls, which cheered at games but were not cheerleaders. “I loved sports back then,” she said. Irinco on the other hand was not an athlete, but according to Lear, “she was the brain.”

After graduating, Irinco went to work right away with the federal government. In 1966, she got a job at Fort Ord with the military. After working for 8 years at Fort Ord, she transferred to the Department of Agriculture and worked there for 37 years and retired in 2011. “I have quite a bit of federal time,” she said. Lear, after graduating, attended Hartnell College then transferred to San Jose State and majored in recreation. After graduating from San Jose State, she worked in the recreation department and later worked for the Girl Scouts. She eventually worked as a teacher’s aide at Alisal Elementary School and coached basketball there. Later on, she went back to school to Central Coast College and learned about computers. “Right now I’m a part time employee enjoying life,” she said.

Their cheering began with their own children and eventually their grandchildren. “I have been into sports since my own children were small, and we have been cheering the same way,” said Lear. This season Irinco had a grandson on the JV team, “My grandson Eric plays basketball, and we enjoy cheering for the team.” Their unique cheering has received praise, on the Alisal side, at least. “The losing team, they don’t like us. If the other team is losing, they don’t like us. Even though we are not derogatory with the other team they don’t like the spirit that we show, but majority of the people have enjoyed the spirit and the enthusiasm that we show in the game,” said Irinco. However, most people have given positive comments. “We get recognized by a lot of people, we get a lot of compliments and it really makes us feel good,” said Lear. The players, too, really appreciate them for cheering. Darwin Ongy, a boys’ varsity player, said, “It’s like a motivation to us. When they aren’t there, something doesn’t feel right.”

What started out as enthusiastic cheering for their grandson eventually turned into something bigger. These ladies began cheering for the girls’ basketball teams as well. “We enjoy watching the girls play even though we don’t have any relatives on the team because we enjoy cheering,” said Irinco. The girls, according to both ladies, are appreciative of them as well.  Cassandra Benavidez, a girls’ varsity basketball player, said, “We get excited when we see them cheering for us. We get motivated to give our best and make them proud.”

As the boys advance, so will these two.“If they have to travel, we will travel with them,” said Irinco. And they did just this. In the CCS game, these two cheered the team all the way to the end. Next year, they will again follow this tradition of cheering for both boys’ and girls’ basketball teams.