FIU Cuts Cheerleading, Golden Dazzlers To Stay

By Jorge Valens / Asst. News Director
FIU Student Media
Additional Miami Herald Article

Cheerleading program: Few alternatives to survive


The FIU cheerleading program has been eliminated as part of Athletics’ $1 million budget cut for the 2009-10 fiscal year.

“This economy has forced us to make some very tough choices,” said Athletics Director Pete Garcia in a written statement to Student Media. “The decision to discontinue our cheerleading program was one of them."

The decision to eliminate the program comes after the University’s move to cut all funding to the Golden Panther Band. Athletics is currently reaching out to local high school marching bands to perform at football games.

According to Richard Kelch, director of media relations for Athletics, the department would save $45,000 annually by eliminating the program.

However, head cheerleading coach Maria George told Student Media that the budget for the cheerleading program is in fact $25,000.

George said she offered Athletics to coach the program for free and without an operating budget, but Athletics declined the offer.

Kelch said the department would still need money to run the program, even without George’s salary and operating budget, and that Athletics would be open to keep the cheerleading team if they were able to secure a recurring sponsor.

“The key word is recurring,” Kelch said. “We don’t want to find ourselves in the same position next year.”

The Golden Dazzlers, the University's competitive dance team, will continue to be funded and will fill the void left by the cheerleading team during games.

The Golden Dazzlers have 18 members and perform at all basketball and football games as well as events such as Midnight Madness and Freshman Convocation.

Their style, however, is more focused on hip hop and jazz dance routines rather than traditional cheering routines.

George said she thinks that Athletics wanted to go in a different direction.

“Athletics is trying to move toward a more professional cheerleader, which is a dance-type program such as the [Miami] Heat,” she said.

Athletics would not comment on why the Dazzlers were chosen over the cheerleading program.

George said she now must contact students who have committed to FIU specifically to be a part of the program.

“A lot of my student-athletes, they chose FIU because of our cheerleading,” George said. “I’ve got kids all around the country coming in to cheer here, that I’m making calls right now to tell them we don’t have a program.”

“I was so proud to say that I was an FIU cheerleader,” said cheerleader Sasha Velasco, a newcomer to the team. “I was looking forward to progressing [in the program] and being on a team that would push me to my limits and now they just pulled that right from under me.”

The cheerleading team has been the recipient of much success, most notably placing fourth in the Small Coed I-A division for the 2009 NCA/NDA Collegiate National Championships in April.

“We go to Daytona, Florida for college nationals every year, which is like the Rose Bowl of our sport,” George said. “They’re cutting a program that produces award-winning cheerleaders.”

The team is currently exploring alternative options to raise funds.

“We’re looking into other avenues to see if we can perhaps get enough support throughout the FIU community and the community in South Florida to help us stay as an organized sport,” George said.

The cheerleading team is currently seeking corporate sponsorships and has organized various fund-raising events on and off campus.

On June 24, the team set up in the Graham Center Pit to collect donations and create awareness about their situation.

They also partnered with the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity the following day for a fundraising party.

Lastly, on June 26, the cheerleaders organized a car wash.

Fliers have been posted in various spots throughout the Graham Center, informing students the different ways they can help and a schedule of their fund-raising events.

Student government has become aware of the cut and is discussing options with Athletics.

“We are looking at all alternatives in helping maintain the cheerleading program,” said Student Government Council at Modesto Maidique Campus President Anthony Rionda. “We understand the position the Athletic Department is in in cutting their budget but [we] are working our best to help this program continue.”

The cheerleaders, both veterans of the program and newcomers, are responding to the cuts with surprise and disappointment.

“I’m still in shock,” said co-captain Jenny Mesa. “We weren’t prepared for it.”

According to veteran cheerleader Erika Otero, however, this is just a minor setback.

“We really are title hungry,” she said. “This is going to be a stepping stone but we’ll get there.”

The final option for the team is to limit the amount of competitions they attend and become a student club, which receives funding from the Council for Student Organizations.

Role of College Cheerleading Becoming Controversial Issue

Sports Illustrated (SI.com) explores the role of competitive cheerleading in college athletic departments.

HAMDEN, Conn. (AP) -- They jump, tumble and work the crowd. They also bristle at being called cheerleaders.

"We don't even use that word anymore," said Tori Maynard, a senior on the University of Oregon's competitive cheer team. "It's a stereotype. People don't understand what competitive cheerleading is."

Maynard and others involved in competitive cheer say it is a sport, similar to gymnastics. A smattering of colleges agree, some seeing it as a cheaper way to help comply with Title IX, the federal law that requires schools to offer equal athletic opportunities to men and women.

To continue article Click Here

SI.com Features ASU Spirit Squad Member Logan

Sports Illustrated (SI.com) has featured Logan from Arizona State as the "Cheerleader of the Week." The ASU Spirit Squad was formed after the school combined the cheer team and dance team into one organization last year. SI.com features Logan and several members of the ASU Spirit Squad in 33 photos this week. For the full photo gallery Click Here

Redhawk Becomes Sea Gal

By Katie Farden
SU Spectator
Media Credit: Courtesy Sea Gals

With four wins and 12 losses last season, the Seattle Seahawks ended 2008 leaving most of their fans with dim hopes for next year. Seattle U students and alumni still have cause to head down to Qwest Field, however, even if it is only for the half-time show.

Senior criminal justice and forensic psychology major Pia Gillan recently earned a spot on the Sea Gals, a professional dance team that performs at Seahawks football games.

When Gillan first found out she made the team, she was in disbelief.

"You have to wait for an hour to find out, and that's the worst part," she said. "When they first called my number I was in shock, I had to double check to make sure it was me."

Gillan has been a member of Seattle U's dance squad, SU Dance Team, for the past two years.

Her dance coach, Kate Kelly, wasn't surprised with Gillian's success at the Sea Gals tryout.

"She is one of the best performers I have ever coached," Kelly said. "She just has that air about her."

Performing in front of a large audience is one aspect of her new job Gillan says she is most excited to take on.

"I'm really excited just to be in the stadium interacting with the crowd," said Gillan who was born and raised in Guam and danced competitively in high school for Skip Entertainment Studio.

Before dancing on the SU Dance Team, Gillan spent her freshman and sophomore year playing rugby for Seattle U.

"Rugby was a lot of fun, especially because we played it a lot in Guam," she said. "But I really missed dancing. It's not that I didn't like rugby, but I do wish I had tried out for the dance team earlier."

The most unforgettable moment of her two years on Seattle U's dance squad, she said, was her initial audition.

"I had never really auditioned before, and I was nervous choreographing my own dance," she said of her 2007 tryout. "But I got through it."

Gillan auditioned for the Sea Gals in late April at Qwest Field. The try outs, which held three rounds of cuts and personal interviews, proved to be far more overwhelming than the Seattle U dance team auditions.

"At the SU audition, there are about eight girls there, and everyone knows your name," she said. "At the Sea Gals audition, there were over 200. You're just a number."

Granite Bay Grad Dances From Grizzlies to Hornets

By Megan Wood- The Press Tribune
Granite Bay Press Tribune

Ali Bryant will soon swap her Granite Bay cheerleading uniform for Sacramento State’s dance team duds.

Bryant, a dancer since she was 8 years old recently auditioned for the Hornet Dance team and was notified last week that dance would definitely play a part in her college career.

Bryant has been in the advanced dance class at Granite Bay High School all four years of high school. She danced on the Emerald Dance team her freshman and sophomore years before joining the cheerleading squad her junior year. Her senior year, Bryant was voted captain of the cheerleading squad.

Bryant begins practice with the Hornet Girlz this summer and will attend several community events with the dance team.

Next year, as a freshman at Sacramento State, Bryant will perform at home football and basketball games with the Hornet Girlz and will make appearances at Raley Field.

Before graduating next month, Bryant will travel to Disneyland to perform and attend a workshop with the cheerleading squad. Bryant will dance one last time on the Granite Bay stage in the spring dance show May 21 and 22. The show takes place in the Granite Bay High School Theater at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $10.

Spotlight: Alabama Crimson Cabaret

Taylor Daily Press

Jennifer Jan Tocquigny has been a member of the nationally ranked Crimson Cabaret college dance team at the University of Alabama for four years. Her team performs at each of the Tide’s basketball games, as well as, for 98,000 football fans. Each year the Crimson Cabaret competes at the UDA College Dance Nationals in Orlando, Fla., where they have consistently placed in the top 10 college dance teams. Tocquigny was on the Fairview High Pom Squad for four years, captain of the team her senior year and a professional cheerleader with the Colorado Rapids while in high school. She is the daughter of Carla and Rick Tocquigny of Boulder, Colo. Her grandmother is Janell Rohlack of Taylor.

Rice Spirit Squads Stepping It Up

Despite lack of funding, student-run spirit groups are rising to the challenge of a growing athletics department
The Rice Thresher

Two Bowl trips, a $27 million dollar renovation of the basketball facilities and the signing of one of the winningest basketball coaches in the nation are all just parts of Athletic Director Chris Del Conte's vision for the future of the Rice athletics. Simultaneously, with neither the resources of a full-time staff nor the ability to raise six-figure alumni donations, students leading the Rice spirit squads have been working to move their teams in a direction parallel to Del Conte's vision.

The Owls' cheerleading and dance teams have both been through many changes in recent years after making concerted efforts to improve the quality of their performances. Their goal has been to significantly bolster student support on the sidelines.

"Both of [the squads] have improved tremendously," Megan Dodge, director of marketing, said. "I think a lot of it has to do with the passion of their leaders."

Since the beginning of the academic year, Dodge has been assigned as the liaison between the athletics department and the spirit squads. The seemingly arbitrary addition to the director of marketing's work description exemplifies a confusing trend in the relationship between the groups.

There exists a long-standing gray area when it comes to categorizing the spirit squads as either clubs or parts of the athletics department. In the past, this self-imposed relationship worked well for both parties. But a concerted effort has arisen from the leadership of the student groups to improve their on-field performance, and when added to the current financial troubles, the students feel as though their efforts have been stifled by an inefficient system.

Balancing act
For the cheer squad, there is one piece of the system in particular that brings the most challenges: The coaches of the squad are students taking on an extreme additional burden.

"Athletics sees cheerleading as our job, as our number one priory," said senior co-captain Nina Xue. "But we don't get treated like that's our number one priority."

Xue and junior co-captain Darren Arquero were central figures in pushing for a squad with improved skill. To get the team where they wanted them to be, the captains arranged for the team to train every week at a gym located in Sugarland, Tex. While the move has manifested itself in strong on-field performances, problems arose when it came to deciding how to pay for these kinds of endeavors.

"Darren and I have to talk to athletics, run a team, do all the administrative stuff and we are in charge of fundraising," Xue said. "And then we work, and we have school."

The presence of a full-time coach, she claims, would significantly lighten the burden on the students and increase the squad's ability to raise funds. But the team is stuck in an enigma. While a coach would ease the burden of fundraising, they do not have up-front money to pay for a coach.

"Chris Del Conte said throughout this year, 'Prove to me that you guys do deserve a coach,'" Russ Dean, Associate Athletics Director, said.

Xue believes that they have done just that.

"[Del Conte] thinks that we would be more legitimate if we were really coed, but that is because he doesn't understand the sport," she said. "Just because we don't have huge guys launching us in the air doesn't make us less legitimate."

But the fact that they are the only cheer squad with no full-time coach in the conference has implications beyond the quality of their performances. The athletics department pays for one of the members of the squad to be certified by the National Cheerleading Association every year, as conference regulations require there to be a certified coach present at every practice for safety reasons.

Cheerleading has one of the highest rates of injury of any sports - ESPN has named it the most dangerous sport for girls - and the burden of keeping the squad safe falls on the shoulders of the on-field captain.

"I am the one that is legally responsible if people get hurt on the team," Xue said. "If we had a coach, they could watch everything. [But] when Darren and I are involved in all the stunts, we can't see everything that is going on."

While safety in the practices is left up to the members of the squad, the medical resources that are available to any varsity athlete are given to the cheer squad, as well. But the gray area makes it difficult, at times, for the system to deal with the cheerleaders. For example, when Arquero was injured last year though cheerleading, his request for a motorized scooter from health services was repeatedly denied, because he was not classified as an athlete.

"Going through that process is very difficult," Arquero said. "It is basically [saying] that we are not being appreciated."

Owning the squad
While the two squads carry many of the same responsibilities, the dance team has responded to their unique relationship with athletics in a different manner.

"We are highly self-governing," senior Jennie Wilburn, captain of the dance team, said. "People take up their responsibility. It is a lot of work, but people do a good job of trying to spread it out."

The members of the dance team take turns creating choreography for their performances, a point in which the squad takes great pride. Without the safety hazards associated with some of the cheerleaders' routines, the dancers have been able to place that same emphasis on constantly improving without seeking out extra help. Instead, Wilburn said, the members have simply been putting in more time and effort.

Many other dance squads dedicate themselves to traveling for competitions in addition to supporting their teams. While this may be a potential direction for the team, they are currently focusing on raising the bar for their game-day performances.

"I think that as we slowly take our steps to make ourselves more serious, the student body takes you more seriously, and athletics will too," Wilburn said. "It is something that will happen over time as long as people remain committed. I don't think people realize how much time we put in. We put in as much time as some varsity sports."

Wilburn says that despite the team's recurring problems with funding, she understands the difficulty that the athletics department has when it comes to defining the position of the spirit squads.

"I would say it is not because they don't want to help," she said. "I think they want to do everything that they can for us."

When it comes down to it, the most important issue for all parties is supporting Rice athletics. The spirit squads saw the models put forth by the highflying connections between Chase Clement and Jarett Dillard, and they have been trying to raise their level of performance to coincide with the increased national recognition.

"I would never want to say that I am comparable to Dillard or Clement," Wilburn said, "But at the same time, when we do a lot for a team we don't feel the same appreciation."

And they intend to bolster the resurgent basketball programs as signs of support for the immense amount of money and resources placed into those programs, as well.

"Our team can do things that would have been impossible in previous years," Xue said.

But the reshaping of an entire department cannot happen overnight. There is a mutual recognition, though, that the process will have to take a great deal of effort and communication.

"We will try our hardest to give them all the tools to be successful that we can," Dean said. "Now, every sport will probably want more, but of course we will sit down with them."