From an early age, Parker Campiglia knew, at least in a general sense, what path he would follow. His family emphasized three seemingly unrelated pursuits: Community service, athletics, and academics. Within the realm of athletics, he and his siblings were encouraged to play both a team sport and an individual sport. Campiglia didn’t waste any time honoring his family’s wishes. When he was a preschooler, he was already playing soccer and involved in gymnastics. Though too young to initiate a project of his own, he followed his family on various service projects around the Lowndes County community.
“It’s amazing how you can become so connected with your community, learn from such a variety of people, and access an array of opportunities from just getting out and getting involved,” he says.
Campiglia’s involvement with cheerleading happened almost by accident. He says he started gymnastics as way of preparing for other sports. He trained and competed with his older brother, Will.
“The Valdosta YMCA became like a second home for us,” he says.
He would often go to the Y after school; then, a couple of hours later, he would head to soccer – his preferred individual sport. In middle school, Will was invited to try out for a co-ed competition cheerleading team at Valdosta Middle School. From there, Will became involved with All-Star Cheer through Azalea Cheer Extreme. At the time, Parker was spending his weekends traveling with the South Georgia United soccer club (now United Futbol Academy South Georgia). One weekend, however, he wasn’t playing soccer, and one of the Azalea Cheer Extreme’s squad members suffered an injury. The team needed someone to step up and fill in, and Parker was available. And that’s how his cheerleading career began; Parker later joined the Valdosta Middle School squad and Azalea Cheer Extreme.
When he entered high school, Will was a senior. He had been in VHS cheerleading coach Jana Whitehead’s tumbling class and had expressed interest in joining the Valdosta High cheerleading team. Every time Will asked, Coach Whitehead had resisted. The logistical challenges of going co-ed, along with the commitment required, made things a little difficult. Finally, Coach Whitehead told Will if he could find another male cheerleader, she would make the VHS team co-ed. Will enlisted Parker, and together, the two made the Wildcats’ cheerleading team a co-ed squad.
“Going co-ed means your team competes in a different class,” says Parker, who serves as captain for the 2015 co-ed competition squad. “It can be harder and more competitive. You have to do co-ed stunting, and each male on the floor has specific stunts that they have to do. It’s different than competing with an all-girls squad.”
Since Parker joined the team, Valdosta has earned trips to Sectionals on two occasions. However, the ‘Cats missed going to state by one place each time. At the time of this writing, Valdosta had competed one time and finished second.
So what has Parker learned during his time as a male cheerleader?
“Don’t be afraid to try new things,” he says. “Originally, I was scared to go out for cheerleading in middle school. But my mom encouraged me to do it. It was good to step out of my comfort zone. I was very content where I was. I needed to step out.”
While he was getting out of his comfort zone through cheering, his soccer career was taking off. Parker had been playing soccer since he was three years old. He was also playing baseball at the time, but it didn’t take him long to realize that he loved soccer more than baseball. When he was seven years old, Parker started playing club soccer with the then-South Georgia United.
“It’s relaxing and it’s a good way of letting off stress,” he says. “Plus you have multiple chances at success in soccer.”
Over the years, Parker has forged a rather decorated soccer career. While the Valdosta High soccer team hasn’t been much of a factor in the postseason, Parker has been named All-Region twice (Second Team as a sophomore, First Team as a junior), was named the Wildcats’ Defensive Player of the Year in 2014, and won the Coach’s Award in 2013. Additionally, he has been a fixture on the United Futbol Academy’s travel teams since he joined the program and has traveled to both Brazil and England with the academy.
As if all of this isn’t enough of a commitment, Parker is also ranked first in the VHS Class of 2016, and he is an International Baccalaureate Diploma candidate and AP Scholar. The discussion we’ve had thus far doesn’t do Parker’s obligations justice. If you could see his entire resume, you would realize just how impressive his top ranking is. In spite of everything he does outside of the classroom, Parker manages to stay on top of his grades. He does it by time management, not procrastinating, and simply refusing to neglect his studies.
“It’s difficult but I’ve been doing it forever,” he says. “It’s always been expected of me. Now I have an ‘I’m going to get it done’ attitude. I have the confidence to know that I’ll get all my work done. I try to always do the best I can and get my assignments done quickly.”
Sidebar:
This story barely scratches the surface of what Parker Campiglia is involved in. He is an Eagle Scout with Troop 415 and led a project that planned, designed, funded, and created a sensory room for children with autism at Rite Care, Scottish Rite Speech Therapy Clinic. He also led a similar project with Lowndes Youth Leadership League that created a sensory room for children with disabilities at Valdosta Middle School. Parker has participated in HOBY (Hugh O’Brien Youth Leadership) for the last two years and created fleece blankets for hospitalized children as a service project. Parker has also served as a literacy volunteer at WG Nunn Elementary. These are but a few highlights of Parker’s community service projects. We didn’t even get into his academic awards, which, as you might imagine, would take up the next three pages of this magazine.
Sidebar #2:
So what does it take to be a good cheerleader? “Lots of versatility,” Parker says. “You have to do a lot of things well.” When Parker started cheerleading, his gymnastics background made him a decent tumbler. But he wasn’t very big or strong. Since a lot of what he does involves lifting the female members of the squad, he had to get bigger and stronger while maintaining his tumbling ability. “I’ve had to go to the gym on my own and work out,” he says. “I’ve gained about 30 pounds since my freshman year. I put on a lot of weight this summer just by going to the gym.”
South Georgia / November 2015
Parker Campiglia
Valdosta High School
Valdosta, Georgia
Athletics, service to others hallmark of VHS senior
By Robert Preston Jr.
Photography by Micki K Photography
