Allison Grace, 16, is a junior at Granite Bay High School, but to 20 seventh and eighth graders she is a hero and a role model.

As a high school cheerleader, Grace participates in a nearly year-round sport that starts with tryouts in April, practices much of the summer and then starts the season supporting the Grizzly football team in the fall. With about a month off during the holidays, the cheerleaders restart their season in January supporting the basketball season. Throughout, the members of the team practice two-hours after school three to four times a week.

Grace started cheering with the Junior Grizzlies when she moved to Granite Bay from Elk Grove six years ago. Although she had been involved in cheerleading before, she really enjoyed the Junior Grizzly program. So much so that she wanted to continue when she reached the high school level.

"I had so much fun with it in my eighth-grade year that I wanted to go back and coach," she says. "Some of the same girls are those I've been coaching since I started in eighth-grade, which is kinda cool."

So in addition to her dedication to the Granite Bay High teams, she adds another two-hour practice dedicated to developing routines and skills for the Junior Grizzlies.

"It is usually a long continuous day and we end up getting home late, but," she trails off with a smile. "It's fun to know that you're producing everything that they are doing and then when they go out and perform their routine at competition, your like, 'Wow, those are my girls, those are the girls I've been coaching.' It's a rewarding feeling. It's so good to see them happy."

Grace has been instructing the same group of girls since she was a freshman and they were mere Peewees. This year the group of seventh- and eighth-graders are Midgets.

"When they are in eighth grade, I'll be a senior," she says. "So when I graduate they'll go into the high school program."

In addition to Grace, the team also has adult coaches as well as two more instructors, but Grace says she pretty much runs the routines for the team.

Although a soccer player in younger years, a neighbor talked Grace into trying out for cheer. Now Grace says it's something she never wants to give up.

"I think it's so much fun as a high school cheerleader to get your crowd involved for the school and cheering for the boys that you know, knowing that you make a difference," she says. "You are definitely a positive influence on the school (in terms of moral)."

As far as coaching goes, Grace says the experience helps her relate to her coach better, but it is the responsibility that she really enjoys.

"It is good because they expect a lot out of me and I expect a lot out of them," she says.

Grace is also on the track team at Granite Bay High and likes to run, wakeboard, snowboard and swim. Though she knows she wants to go to a four-year college after graduating, she is not sure which school or what degree to pursue yet.

"Possibly a business degree or teaching, but I'm not sure about that," she says. "I considered architecture but I don't know about that."

One thing she is sure of is her decision to be involved in cheer.

"It is just something that I don't ever want to give up," she says.

She says there are many opportunities to encourage the girls. She has seen them overcome injuries as well as obstacles.

She tells of one girl who was having a particularly hard time with her tumbling. It was right before a competition and Grace had to make the decision whether or not to pull her. After a pep talk in the warm up room, Grace allowed her to participate.

"And she pulled it off completely. That was definitely a good feeling for both her and me," she says. "There's always little things that come up in the season that just kinda throw you for a loop for a second, but it's all about getting back on track and going on."

For more information on the Junior Grizzly Cheerleading program, visit www.gbjrgrizzlies.org