NU cheerleaders add spirit to football games

By Frankie Collyer
Norwich Guidon Staff Writer

If anyone has been to a Norwich University football or basketball game in the past few years, they may have noticed something missing, something that most other colleges have: a cheerleading squad.

"We had a squad until about 1997," said Shelby Wallace, the cheerleading team coach and admissions counselor from Northfield, Vt. "After the coach left in 1997, the team sort of fizzled out.

"Last year, Courtney Murphy decided that she would like to see a team come about, so we got together and she formed and group," Wallace said. "I offered to be the team's coach, and she asked me to."

Courtney Murphy, a 20-year-old senior sports medicine major from Wichita Falls, Tex., said, "I was a cheerleader in high school, and I was on the squad when I first came to Norwich, before everyone quit. So last year I went to Shelby Wallace, down at admissions, and told her I wanted to start a team."

This summer the cheerleading squad came back early for double sessions, said Nancy Guitierez, a 19-year-old sophomore business major from Harlington, Tex. "We had double sessions from August 19 to 26, and basically we did conditioning twice a day, and that helped get us to where we are now. It also helped build the team up."

Apparently, the double sessions weren't that hard, but a couple of women quit because they didn't want to body build, explained Sarah Waters, a 19-year-old sophomore nursing major from Scituate, Mass.

"A lot of the girls that wanted double sessions quit because they thought it was too much time," Guitierez said.

"Towards the end, we started doing old cheers, and we taught the freshman some new dances," Waters said.

But double sessions are not all that the cheerleaders have been doing, said Alyson Baird, a 19-year-old sophomore mechanical engineering major from Palatka, Fla.

"A few weeks ago, we had two cheerleaders from UCA come up and have a clinic," Baird said.

Waters explained that the cheerleaders from the Universal Cheerleading Association taught the team basic cheers, dances, and how to become more like a college cheerleading team that could compete in competitions.

"This year, we have got a lot of support from the commandant and the alumni," said Leo Cruz, a 21-year-old senior political science major from Tampa, Fla.

"We also got $2,000 from alumni, which is what we used to buy our new uniforms," said Wallace.

"Col. McKean has been very supportive in that we only have four home football games," said Cruz, adding that if the cheerleading team needs anything, they will give McKean "a call" and he will give them all the help that they need.

Along with more support and new training, the team is looking for a new image and more male cheerleaders, explained Cruz.

"I joined the team because I wanted to be a part of something and because it looked like a lot of fun," said David Grant, an 18-year-old freshman biochemistry major from Hanover, Mass.

"This year, we are looking to make the squad look more like a team and not like a club, because a lot of the things that we do, like double sessions and clinics, are the same things that other varsity sports do," Wallace said.

"I hope to see the cheerleading teams of the future go on to do competitions during the spring and to become more like a college cheerleading team," Murphy added.

Wallace explained that much of the experience is based on school spirit.

"It is all about school spirit, participation, and fun, and I would like to see not only more people come out to the games, but to have a basketball season and maybe some pep rallies," Wallace said.

"Whether we cheer during the basketball season all depends on how well we do during the football season," Murphy explained.

Back to Guidon index