Bella Bringhurst didn’t need to look far to find role models.
They were always right there.
Bringhurst is a rising senior at St. Hubert High School, and she’s turning in quite the athletic career.
She’s a member of the school’s flag football team, where she plays center. She’s also a great swimmer, having earned All-Catholic this year as a member of one of the Bambies relay teams. And her true passion is the sport she’s been doing her entire life, cheerleading.
She didn’t need to look far to find heroes in all her favorite sports.
“I’ve been doing cheerleading since I was 4, my mom is the director of cheerleading at Crispin and my sister (Katie) has been coaching there since I was little,” said Bringhurst, a main base who lives in Winchester Park. “I love cheerleading because of the dedication it takes to compete. All sports are team sports, but in the other ones, you’re playing in a lot of ways for yourself. In cheerleading, it’s for you, your teammates and your coaches. Everyone works so hard for you, so you need to work just as hard for them.
“I love being coached by my sister because she is always hard on me because she is looking out for me and wants me to be the best I can be, so she pushes me. I think she’s made me the cheerleader I am today. She’s good, she still coaches now, coaches the Crispin national team. She makes her team better and better and she’s still getting better and better as a coach. She’s really good.”
So is her sister, who also picked up a sport from her brothers
“My brothers love football, my brother Matt played at Father Judge and my brother Michael coaches at Chestnut Hill (College),” Bringhurst said. “They both coach there. A lot of my friends tried out for flag football, and they really liked it so I tried it. My brothers love football, so it was fun for me. I really like it.”
No matter what she’s doing, Bringhurst stays busy.
It’s usually with cheerleading.
She credits her sister and mom with giving her the love of the sport that she’s been a star at since she started at Crispin. Then when she made the move over to St. Hubert, she fell even more in love with the sport.
“It means to be a cheerleader, but I think it means more because I’m a cheerleader at St. Hubert’s,” said Bringhurst, who has been on the varsity program since she arrived as a freshman. “It’s the best program I could be a part of. The coaches are amazing, having three teams be that close, it’s incredible.
“I’ve made the best friends I could ask for at Hubert cheerleading. It means so much to win. Even when you’re on a team, you do it for your teammates, but we’re doing it for our best friends. Everyone really loves cheering together, our coaches make us work hard, but we have so much fun. It’s a great team to be a part of.”
They have fun every year.
They have more fun when they’re winning.
And St. Hubert has a winning cheerleading program.
Under coach Lisa McNesby, the Bambies are not only almost annually winners of Catholic League and PIAA state championships, they’re one of the most successful teams in the country, competing for a national championship every winter in Orlando.
She also follows in her sister’s footsteps with coaching. Mom’s, too.
“I also coach a 4-year-old team at Crispin, helping younger kids is easy because it’s so much fun,” said Bringhurst, who will spend her summer working in Wildwood. “I’ve always helped my sister coach when I got out of Crispin, so helping these girls, it’s really easy for me. And I’m part of the Bambie Ambassador program, so I talk to a bunch of younger girls at open houses, and they’re a lot like the kids I coach. I find it easy to talk to and mentor younger girls.
“I learned from (mom and sister), they’re the main reason I’m in cheer and the main reason I still cheer. I love it for myself, I love everything about it and I’m so happy I’m doing it for me, but I do it for them, too.”
She’s already figured out beyond high school, too, and there she also wants to be like mom.
Her goal is to attend Penn State University and become a nurse, the same job her mom has.
She also has high expectations for her senior year.
Bringhurst’s goal is to continue the success she’s enjoyed in cheerleading and swimming, while helping the Bambies’ football team win a game, something it failed to do last year. But despite the record, Bringhurst is proud of what the team accomplished.
“Senior year, I just want to really make sure my team has the best season this year for cheerleading after a big rebuilding year,” Bringhurst said. “We had some great girls graduate, but I want to perform the best we can.
“For swimming, I would love to do what I did this year, try my best, get to as many practices as I can, and hopefully get First-Team All-Catholic. Flag football, I want to win a game. At least one. But if not, at least we have a good season. As long as we try our best, everything is fine.”
No matter how her final year plays out, she’s going to miss the school.
“I love everything about it,” she said. “I’m really proud to play three sports for them. I’m proud to be a part of the school. I just really love it.”
