In preparation for this week’s National Cheerleading Association tournament in Daytona, Florida, the UCA cheer team performed a high-energy stunt routine on April 2 at the Farris Center.
The team’s new coach, Antonio Anderson, said, “I have no doubt in my mind that if they perform at nationals like they did tonight, they will be very successful.”
Anderson said he was “shocked and excited” by the community’s turnout for the preview.
“Usually cheer doesn’t bring in the big crowds because many people don’t really understand all that we do, especially in a competition setting,” Anderson said.
He said the competing team will have 18 of the 27 cheerleaders performing, and that they’ve made a lot of progress for nationals “in such a short period of time.”
“They have been through so much and continue to show that they have what it takes. I believe they’ve even shocked themselves with being able to pull it all together,” Anderson said.
“Everyone should keep their eye on UCA cheer,” Anderson said.
The preview was also senior Emma Knight’s last performance at UCA, but she said it was an “amazing feeling.”
Knight said, “The number of people that were there to support us was unmatched from any other year.”
“All the support from alums, families and friends made the whole gym light up with energy.”
Knight said that even though this will be her third time competing at nationals, this year, she feels “more ready and confident” than before.
“Our coach has done so much to prepare us over the past two months and I can’t thank him enough for all the support and effort he has put into us. I wouldn’t be able to feel this ready without him,” she said.
Anderson, an alumnus of UCA’s cheer program himself, said he choreographed the routine, which made moves and stunts easier to modify.
”Choreography is a forever ongoing change up until they hit the floor. I’m always looking for ways to make them look more polished and more prepared,” he said.
Anderson said the Bears’ support from alums, the community and the administration “will help them to get to the top again.”
“This program was once known as a powerhouse program that won many national championships,” Anderson said.
Anderson said the team, which has three two-hour long practices a week, has been hard at work for the competition.
“Most of them also work on things outside of practice, whether it be at an open gym, or at their all-star team practices,” he said.
Anderson said, “I couldn’t be more proud of this team.”
The Bears will perform their routine in Daytona on April 6 and will compete in the Advanced Small Co-ed Division I category.
The competition will be exactly two months after the Feb. 6 suspension from UCA Athletics, which led to the team creating a Change.org petition to let them compete at nationals. It gained 4,078 signatures.
The same day, the petition closed and declared victory, and Athletics walked back its decision publicly on Twitter, stating that Anderson would serve on an “interim, part-time basis” coaching the competition squad.
UCA’s Director of Media Relations Fredricka Sharkey said the suspension was due to “team chemistry,” and the cheer team was not allowed to perform at the rest of the season’s basketball games.