Cheerleaders aim to carry on rich tradition

The GCSU Cheerleaders can be found in the Centennial Center practicing their pyramids, tucks and stunts as they prepare for another successful season.
Head Coach Kyle Hood said his team is young but very talented this year.
“We have only one senior,” Hood said. “More than half the team is freshmen and sophomores.”
The cheerleading team held tryouts in April.
“That’s the main, publicized one, but we also had informal tryouts in the fall,” Hood said.
Hood said the team’s newcomers are very talented and will help the team in its two aspects of cheerleading: supporting the basketball teams and competition.
“Our first focus is on the basketball season,” Hood said. “Our goal is to create the most fun experience people can have at basketball games.”
The team also wants to be successful in competition.
“We don’t necessarily have to win,” Hood said. “But you always want to do well.”
The Bobcat cheerleaders will be involved in two competitions this season. The first coincides with the Peach Belt Conference basketball tournament and the other is the National Championships in April at Daytona Beach.
Hood, who was a cheerleader when he attended school at GCSU, said that competing in the national tournament is the highlight of every season.
“It’s the equivalent of the NCAA tournament or national championship game in football for our sport,” Hood said.
There will be over 25 teams from several different states competing in the Division II co-ed subdivision at Daytona Beach.
GCSU has won three cheerleading national championships, in 1998, 1999 and 2001. They have also been national runners up in 2003 and 2005 and have won a number of conference championships.
“Considering that we don’t give scholarships, we are rich in tradition and known in the cheerleading world to be at a highly competitive level,” Hood said.
P.J. Schinella, a second year cheerleader, said a conference championship and a fourth national championship is a goal for the team this year.
“There’s a more fun atmosphere around the team this year,” Schinella said. “We have more talent than last year.”
Katherine Smith, a third year cheerleader, said she also expects big things from the team this year.
“We have a really good team this year, everyone gets along really well. I think we’ll really do well,” Smith said.
GCSU has only one cheerleading squad. All members cheer at basketball games and in competition.
“It’s a two-fold process,” Hood said. “We don’t have enough people to do a game squad and a competition squad. It’s a requirement of all team members to cheer games in order to be on the competition team.”
The cheerleaders can be seen at the first Lady Bobcat basketball game on Nov. 15 at the Centennial Center.
“The team is coming together really well,” Smith said. “People are stepping up and doing things well, we should really be good.”

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Oct 13 2006. 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