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BSU cheerleading squad ready for new year
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"Five, six, seven, eight,” echoes inside the gymnastics room on the Boise State campus. “What did I do wrong? Will you watch my tuck?” In blue shorts and orange T-shirts, 19 cheerleaders make the floor shake with a series of group back flips during a daily squad practice, all the while talking back and forth, under the guidance of three coaches.
Just days into the fall semester, the Boise State cheerleading squad is shaping up their routines and their athleticism. The daily two-hour practices don’t faze this squad, described as self-motivated and hardworking by their coach.
The team has a fresh face this year. Many of the members are first-year students, bringing enthusiasm plus a myriad of skills, from tumbling to dancing, to the squad.
“We have a really talented group of ladies,” coaching director Julie Stevens said. “We’re still looking for a few guys.” With 19 squad members, all the cheerleaders are female this year save for Mountain Home junior Troy Allen. Only five girls on the squad are return members from last year.
“They push themselves every day. On game day they will be here three hours before the game,” Stevens said.
The team’s strengths are already starting to show.
“They’re very good at group stunting. They are a real positive group. They work well together,” Stevens said. The team works under the eye of Stevens, plus assistant coach Jonathan Wood and gymnastics coach Bill Steinbach.
There’s no drama, no conflicts, the cheerleaders say, which makes their practices run smoothly and contributes to the good vibes that permeate the team.
Following the demanding try-outs, the ones who make the team have their work cut out for them. Stevens ticks off the list of skills needed for the sport of cheerleading. “They have to be very athletic. They have to do chants throughout a game. They do pushups every time after we score. They do tumbling, dancing, they build pyramids.”
The try-outs themselves were a workout in and of their own. Potential members must learn a dance, a fight song, and a game action cheer. They have to perform two tumbling passes, a back-handspring and a toe-touch. If they can do specialty jumps, they can throw those in, too.
Stevens has watched cheerleading evolve since she started coaching 24 years ago. “It’s a lot more physical now,” she said.
Senior captain Chrissy Popadics of Boise is no stranger to the sport. With eight years of cheerleading under her belt, plus another dozen as a gymnast, she brings solid athletics to the team.
“Cheerleaders don’t usually get a lot of respect,” she said. “We want to prove that we are athletes and we do work as hard as anybody.”
Kerri Dunn, a freshman from Boise, said she loves being part of the team. “It’s a lot of work put into it. Our whole squad has a really good work ethic,” said Dunn, whose goal for the year is to pull off a championship performance at nationals this year.
All that hard work translates into fluid moves on the field. Each member brings a different set of skills and strengths to the team. “There’s such a mixed group of people. We have really strong stunters, really good tumblers, really great jumpers,” said Idaho Falls freshman Kaysha Sparks.
“I fly,” explains Jenna Lineberger when asked her specialty, which means she’s the one who gets thrown into the air a lot. Her second year on the squad, the
Boise sophomore said she admires the cohesiveness of this new team, adding that everybody seems focused on the work at hand.
The practices happen everyday, squeezed among class loads and jobs. “I’m not really used to it yet, because it’s just the first week,” Idaho Falls freshman Liz Kvamme said. A good attitude is essential to the sport, she said. “Nobody on this team fights, there are no conflicts,” she said of the level of teamwork apparent already.
Sharon Strauss
Idaho Press-Tribune
