Bobcats cheer to 2nd place

Despite a couple obstacles, the cheerleaders performed a solid routine at the National Cheerleading Association national championship competition at Daytona Beach, Fla. on April 7-8 to finish in second place.

The cheerleaders were faced with the challenge of moving from a large co-ed squad (five or more male cheerleaders) to a small co-ed squad (four or less male cheerleaders) following the departure of several male cheerleaders from last year’s team.

The team also had to change practice facilities to the Centennial Center as a result of renovation occurring in the Porter Fine Arts building.

Jerry Fly, head coach of the Bobcat cheerleaders, said the team faced the two obstacles head-on.

“The team made the transition to small coed easily, and I think they actually enjoyed practicing in the Centennial Center,” Fly said.

The team finished behind powerhouse Hawaii Pacific, but was not disappointed in finishing second.

“The team was very happy with the performance.? Hawaii Pacific is very talented.? Their school gives 37 scholarships for cheerleading.?? We give no cheerleading scholarships.? So, we are happy that we continue to give them strong competition each season,” Fly said.

With a second place finish at Nationals under their belt, the team looks to start training again for next year and raising money for a return trip to Nationals. There is not much off time for a cheerleading team that has 10 straight years of finishing in the top six in the nation (including the national championship trophy in 1998, 1999 and 2001), and this year will prove no different.

“This Saturday, April 23, we will have a tryout for next season’s team,” Fly said.? “During the off-season each cheerleader will work on individual skills.”

Fly identified one of the areas the team will continue to work on for next year.

“(We had) a shortage of female bases, but we adapted to that by having other females learn to base,” Fly said. “Also, we had to spend lots of time improving our male female stunting skills.”

The team has a busy summer ahead of them that will give the squad plenty of opportunities to refine their skills.

“We will have one weekend practice in June and one weekend practice in July,” Fly said.? “In addition to the?practices we will teach four or five cheer camps to raise money for next season’s trip to the Nationals.? In August we will attend a National Cheerleaders Association camp in Myrtle Beach, S.C.”

The national competition will be replayed on FOX Sports Net on May 10 at 3 p.m.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Apr 22 2005. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry