Nicki Moreno, also known as Coach Moreno or Coach Nicki, is a former Mills student and cheerleader, now returning as Mills High School’s spirit squad head coach.

Being a cheerleader can be either an amazing experience or a bad experience. Coach Moreno has been through it all; she is currently a third year student at the College of San Mateo (CSM) studying business marketing and a cheerleader on the school’s cheer team over there as well. She is also local to the Mills community having graduated from Mills of class of 2022 and has a little sister who is currently a sophomore at Mills.

Coach Moreno said, “The Mills [Cheer team] was fun; I met a lot of people and it made me build a lot of connections and got me really involved.” When asking Coach Moreno about why she likes coaching she stated, “I want to put the love I have for the sport into the girls and show that I genuinely want to be here and for no other reason and show them that being involved is good.”

Some things she said about her cheer squad team this year is, “They are all different in their own ways and they each have their own special talent and I love each and everyone of them for their little things but to describe them as a whole energetic, adaptive, and their just great and very understanding of me especially since this is my first year coaching and they understanding that I’m new to this experience and they’re just very welcoming.”

Lauryn Lige (9), on her first year on the cheer team, says, “Since I was in elementary school, I’ve always wanted to be a cheerleader like I love the dance aspect, I love stunting, and literally everything: the uniforms, the community, the hair and from a young age I’ve always wanted to do that and I’ve waited like a long time.”

Lily Aidi (11) is in her third year of being on the cheerleading team. She answered the same question and mentioned, “When I joined the cheer team, I did it before my freshman year— so the summer of eighth grade— and it was kinda spontaneous. I’d never done cheer before and some of my friends were doing it, so it looked like something fun where I could meet new people at my new school.”

When asked about Coach Moreno, Lige said, “She is really nice, strong, and has good leadership skills, and is really supportive. You can tell she knows what she is doing and her love for the sport.” Aidi added, “She has really brought the team together and united everybody…so I think she has been a really good change in a more positive and structured direction.”

When asked about the girls about their experience on the MHS cheer team, Aidi explained, “It has been really fun and also is just also a fun activity and I feel like we do more team bonding than maybe other teams. So I feel like it’s not just about the sport it is about the extra activities that come with it.”

Lige went on to say, “It helps you kinda branch out so I think if you love dance and you love working as a team and traveling to different schools for games and stuff like that I think it’s a good opportunity.”

Within it all, this year’s cheer team has been rooting for the Vikings at every football game no matter the school, showing their lively spirit for Mills. There is no doubt that Coach Nicki Moreno is an amazing spirit squad coach and we look forward to seeing the cheerleaders take over the field this school year!