The Florida State cheerleading team is a crucial element to the life of football games, basketball games, volleyball games and other school events. Many who do not know much about the sport may assume all they do is cheer at those games. However, cheer has a season of their own where they compete against other schools at the national level. FSU cheerleading currently holds a top five ranking in the country.
FSU has two cheer teams: a coed team and a women’s team. The two teams perform different skills based on the amount of people in a stunt group. In the women’s stunt groups, there are four people underneath a flyer, and in coed, there is one man underneath a flyer. When nationals season approaches, select athletes are chosen to represent Florida State at the Cheerleading Collegiate National Championships at the ESPN Wide World of Sports.
Other sports differ from cheerleading because if a bad play occurs there is time to recover, whereas cheerleaders have one two-and-a-half-minute routine. The routine is worked on all season to showcase in front of judges. Whatever happens in those two and a half minutes is what is judged and scored. Every year, FSU cheerleading competes at the UCA Collegiate National Championships against the best universities in the United States. Last year FSU competed in the small coed division, finishing fifth in the nation.
“This year we’re shooting for first, and I believe that we can do it,” senior women’s team member Sydney Connolly said. “Our biggest competition Western Kentucky University left the division, and with all of our hard work, I know we can.”
Cheerleading has had stereotypes surrounding the sport including negative sentiments like, “cheerleaders are not true athletes” or “cheerleaders are not smart,” but these accusations are far from the truth. At Florida State members must maintain good academic standing with the university to participate in any events. Furthermore, each athlete must complete 15 hours of community service each semester. The team currently holds an impressive overall GPA of 3.6 collectively. Last semester 14 athletes made the Dean's List, and five athletes made the President’s List.
Cheerleading requires immense athletic strength and agility combining acrobatics, dance and stunting into a short two and half minute routine. Cheerleading trains like any other division one sport on campus.
“On a practice day, we weight train at 6:00 in the morning where we lift weights for about 45 minutes before heading into practice that includes a run,” senior coed member Bubba Nelsons said. “After, we break up into our respective teams. The teams work on elite stunts including hand in hands, rewinds, back handspring ups, pyramids, and baskets.”
These stunts require intense coordination and trust making them the hardest skills in the sport.
Game days take a lot of time and preparation to work out synchronicity as well as hitting skills. In total, there are 44 members that are a part of the program, and only 12 participate at away games which are chosen weekly. The cheer team has an important role of crowd leading through entertaining stunts, cheers and tumbling. Their infectious love for their sport and other sports on campus make them exceedingly thrilling to watch.
To be an FSU cheerleader, it’s preferred that one have strong tumbling skills, stunting skills, a positive attitude and great time management skills to juggle all responsibilities. The team is currently looking to recruit more men for the team so they can be more competitive on the national stage. They are hosting a recruitment event where interested cheerleaders attend a game and go to a clinic to meet the team.
“They don’t necessarily need to have cheer experience, if they are teachable and committed then I’m all about it,” first year head coach Cristina Gold said. “It goes to show that hard work beats talent.”
The Florida State cheerleading team has made a name for itself on and off the mat. They are committed to bringing light to the Florida State University community at games, events and service affairs. These athletes must juggle busy school schedules along with all the responsibilities that come with being an FSU cheerleader. They’re hoping their hard work will pay off, and they can bring home the gold this year at the national championships.
