Written by: Sarah Campbell

@sarah.ccz

At the start of the year, the Netflix original series, Cheer, hit the screen and a rush of adrenaline spread through the media. Some hit plot points included Gabi Butler, one of the members, and coach Monica’s strictness. Curiosity began to arise about the life of a cheerleader from viewers like ourselves. What do their practices look like? How do they deal with the stigma? And more importantly, with practice, can I be a cheerleader, too?

Have you ever been curious about what it’s like to be a cheerleader or want to try it out for yourself? Here is your chance! SMU has its own cheerleading team that does the tossing, dancing, and stunting! It’s worth noting though that it’s not as extreme and dramatic as reality TV shows: hair pulling and juicy breakups are not included in this package.

Maybe you have been thinking about joining the cheerleading team for a while, but what is it that interests you about this sport? Perhaps it’s the ability to perform, or to find confidence in yourself, or just to enjoy wearing the out-of-the-ordinary uniforms. For Joy Baillie, one of the cheerleaders who has been on the team for two years, it was the personal connections that motivated her to join. “My main motive for joining the SMU Cheer team was to make friendships and be involved on campus through a sport that was near to my heart. I love the adrenaline rush of being in the air and wanted to add that back into my life while also meeting people who had similar interests.”

Being in university, the relationships you create are definitely what make the whole experience worthwhile. One of the reasons for joining a club or team would be the ability to allow you to meet people in an array of areas. In SMU cheer, we have students mainly in their first three years of university, although the team is mostly first-year students. Contrary to what mainstream media portrays, this sport is not only restricted to females. With diverse majors and ethnicities, it’s a great group to expand your connections. So if you are intrigued by cheer, why not join?

For the upcoming school year, you don’t have to wait until September to join. The SMU cheerleading team is putting up summer online training to give you a teaser and better prepare you for crushing the upcoming competition.

Every second week there will be a summer virtual learning camp session through zoom. These sessions include team bonding, goal setting and challenges, virtual and maybe in person training in the near future and prizes to be won at the end of the training. If you want to get a sneak peek at the cheerleading team, don’t hesitate to contact them through Facebook or Instagram.

“But I have no experience in cheerleading…” I hear you mumble in the corner. Fortunately, you don’t have to be a pro at cheerleading; you don’t even have to know how to do the splits when you start! “Because you can learn to be flexible and strong,” said Anastasia, one of the executives of SMU Cheerleading. Anastasia believes that if you have the heart for cheer, you will do well. Skills can be taught and learnt; a passionate heart is what you need to bring. The SMU Cheerleading team takes care of the rest to train you well to perform.

Before you start your first training session, let’s get you pumped up for cheer and show you what their practices look like!

During the past semester, on a regular week, the team had three mandatory practices --- Monday and Wednesday nights from around 7pm until late evening, and Friday mornings, each lasting for about 3 hours.

“A normal practice looks like a warmup and stretch, making sure to concentrate on my legs and back flexibility,” says Joy Baillie. After doing their stretches, the practice usually starts with the co-coach, Robin Victoria’s cardio warmup. On Monday and Wednesday nights, the workouts are not as bad, but on Fridays, the conditioning session from Robin is a hate and love relationship, from which everyone feels beaten up after. The conditioning sessions are usually High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) workouts created and led by Robin to gain strength and improve the ability to perform better for competitions. Although everyone whined over the workouts, they made us feel more confident in our physical strength.

Then the coach, Monique Johnson, took over the rest of the practice. “We work on a certain stunt for [the] majority of the night, and add difficulty or new techniques as time progresses,” Joy adds.

Practice sessions are not as strict as most people think, though, which makes them enjoyable. “I was definitely known to goof around a bit when we would work on our pyramid. Lots of messing around, dancing in the air, or trying silly things,” says Joy. Like her name implies, Joy often tries to lighten up the practice sessions when everyone is stressed.

One of the great things about cheer is that everyone tries to encourage each other, as cheerleaders know that the mood of one person can alter the whole atmosphere. “If anyone in the base group seems upset or isn't in [their] right headspace, another member […] always step[s] forward. [The base groups] honestly work like mini fams at times,” mentions Clive Mario, another member who joined this year.

A base group in cheer usually consists of one flyer (the one which gets thrown up in the air), two side bases (which are the main force on holding the flyer up), and a back spot (that gives further support to hold the whole stunt up). Clive’s base group seems to always be on their A-game, scoring every stunt while also having fun. Clive attributes the group’s high spirit to his fellow member on the SMU team, Gabrielle Samson, “I found Gabby VERY motivating. [B]eing in the same base group, I spent a lot of time with her and she really helped me with a lot of things related to cheer.”

However, being flexible isn’t in all of the cheerleaders’ genes. In fact, only a few know how to do the splits. But this didn’t stop them from bringing home the title of Division Champion of their level, 2.0. “The biggest highlight for me was definitely winning Division Champions at our last competition of the year. Our team had been through a lot at that point, and after pushing through low confidence and injuries, we managed to come out on top,” says Joy. “Winning is always a great feeling, but when you walk off the mat and see that your whole team is ecstatic and you know you did great, there's nothing better than [that] feeling,” added Clive.

The hard work comes to an end after months of practices, with the last competition usually in April. Try-outs usually start during the first few weeks of September and practice starts immediately after. During competition-season, which is from January to April, additional practices on the weekends at the cheer gym in Dartmouth and extended practice times would be included.

Although this season is over, the next one is quickly approaching. “I’m getting even more pumped up for next season,” says Anastasia, looking forward to the summer training sessions. Practice now is through zoom meetings until further notice. So if you want to experience practice, competition and more, the SMU Cheerleading team welcomes you! Find out more information on the team’s active Instagram page and Facebook page.

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