In the rear basketball gym of Welsh-Ryan Arena Wednesday night, 16 members of the Northwestern varsity cheerleading squad tossed, turned and twirled to rhythms pumping from a boombox. They were training for the College Cheerleading and Dance Team National Championships, organized by the Universal Cheerleading Association, which was held Friday and Saturday in Orlando, Fla.
“Our goal is to get into the final round this year,” said Katherine Brown, a Weinberg senior and a cheerleader on the squad.
“I’m feeling really good about this year’s chances,” said teammate Ron Adams, a Weinberg sophomore, during the training session Wednesday. “This is the best the team has been in years.”
Despite their intense preparations and confidence, the squad came in last in the semi-finals of the College Coed Division I-A, and failed to make the final 15. The team suffered a few falls during their routine, said captain and McCormick senior Apryl Zarate.
“It’s mentally hard to keep on going when someone falls,” Zarate said. “But we just keep on going. It’s all a mental game.”
During the past four years, the squad has competed at the national tournament only two other seasons, and failed both times to reach the finals.
This year’s disappointing result belies the team’s hard work. The squad remained at NU during Winter Break and trained six hours each day for the competition. During the regular school term, the team trains two and a half hours daily.
“Nobody knows we’re in the gym as much as the other athletes,” Adams said. “Nobody knows we train as hard as any other team.”
Zarate said the squad gave its best at the competition.
“I have no regrets about how things went and how we did,” Zarate said. “It’s always worthwhile to show people what we know and what we do.”
Sarah Agne, 28, who was a member of the NU squad from 1992 to 1996, has coached the team for five years and choreographs its routines.
She supervises three mandatory weight-training sessions and works with the team on their routine six hours a week. Agne said she works 20 hours a week with the squad.
Despite their efforts, the cheerleaders said they have a relatively low profile in the school.
“No one has a real conception about cheerleading,” Adams said.
He said cheerleading can be dangerous, and the squad usually suffers one or two injuries a year.
“Last year, one guy had to have surgery when he got his face shattered by an elbow,” Adams said. “But we’re really safe, and we do a lot of conditioning and weights.”
The squad also said stereotypes of cheerleaders are unfair.
“We’re not ditsy. Most of us are really academically oriented,” Brown said.
Adams agreed.
“When your time is structured around training, you have to get your work done according to a strict schedule,” Adams said “(Cheerleading) helped put my life in structure.”
Brown added that none of the prejudices about male cheerleaders apply to the NU squad.
“Most of the guys on the team are former football players or basketball players,” she said. “They just wanted to stay active in athletics.”
She said having “great people on the team” is also one of the reasons that the members endure the rigorous demands of training.
“There can’t be a star,” Adams said. “If one person falls, the whole team fails. It’s the ultimate team sport.”
