The Demopolis High cheerleading squad left the City of the People Tuesday bound for Memphis, Tenn.

The trip marks the girls’ much-anticipated vist to The Birthplace of Rock ‘n Roll, where they will take part in the festivities leading up to during the Liberty Bowl.

“They’ve all been excited and willing to do everything they needed to do from the start,” DHS cheerleading sponsor Amie Attaway said Monday.

The girls’ preparation for the event has included optional fundraisers and the mastering of a new routine to be performed during the festivities.

“We’re excited, but we’re kind of getting nervous because it’s just getting down to the point where we have to know it,” senior co-captain Hillary Stapp said Monday as the girls were engaged in their final morning of practice prior to their scheduled Tuesday departure. “We’ve done a lot of work on our own individually and we’ve had a few practices as a team.”

“For the most part, we had to learn it on our own,” junior captain Kathleen Randall said of the team’s routine. “We’ve all done our part to be prepared for the evaluation on the first day.”

The girls, who left Demopolis at 8 a.m. Tuesday, faced a packed schedule upon their arrival that included the mandatory first-day evaluation of their routine and a rodeo that took place in the evening.

The docket for today consists of rehearsal and a New Year’s Even dinner and dance.

Thursday will see the girls take part in the Beale Street Parade before resuming rehearsals.

The girls will practice one more time Friday morning before performing their routines during Sara Evans’ show at halftime of the Liberty Bowl clash between the Kentucky Wildcats and East Carolina Pirates.

“I think it’s a tremendous honor for DHS to be asked to

participated,” Attaway, in her sixth year with the squad, said. “It’s a great group of girls who will represent DHS well and do everything asked of them to put on a great show Friday.”

With the costs of $600 per girl paid and the new routine learned, al lthat is left for the Demopolis girls to do is perform when called upon. Admittedly, the girls anticipate the need to battle their nerves when that time comes.

“If you’re not nervous, that means you don’t care,” Randall said.

The Liberty Bowl kicks off at 4 p.m. and will air on ESPN.