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A large crowed, a special performance to your school's song, a halftime performance, bouncing skirts, and pom pons are what make college, football and basketball seasons the pageants they are. But the absence of in-person crowds in the pandemic have left college Cheer teams struggling to adapt to the Zoom age.
PHOTO COURTESY OF Ron Mckinney
“This is not the season we anticipated, but we are working through the circumstances we have,” DePaul University’s Cheer Team in Chicago’s Lincoln Park Spirit Director, Shanon Lersch said. It’s difficult. The season’s difficult. I know. I am one of the cheerleaders at a large midwestern university.
But, the question is, how are teams coping, and what are they learning.
At Chicago's DePaul University, cheer is taking the form of staying virtually connected through Instagram and team bonding through Zoom. A once person to person sport has transitioned to computers screens, ring lights, and camera angles. On average, a DePaul Spirit member performs at 30-35 home basketball games. But, with pandemic NCAA rules there are no sideline cheering this school year.
Lersch has worked to bring person practices back to DePaul’s campus by requiring the spirit squad team members to get COVID-19 testing bi-weekly in order to attend in-person practice.
In fact, I remember my very first practice; the day was warm, my anxiety was so bad I was visibly shaking. I had no idea what I was doing and was embarrassed. The reason I joined was because it was just another sport to try and something to do. I had no gymnastic experience at all and couldn't even do a simple forward roll.
But, within my first year of cheer, I found something special—friends, leadership, a new confidence. I continued to cheer through out middle school, getting better each year, and eventually became a captain in 8th grade. Compared to cheerleading now at Big East big school of 20,000, it was nothing back then. I had practice for two hours usually one day a week, sometimes two, and an hour long basketball game twice a week.
We competed in one or two competitions a year with about 4 other teams. So, to go from such an in-person experience to no contact at all is nerve racking. But, COVID-19 has changed the spirit bringing, bright colored life that comes with cheerleading.
Other cheerleaders agree with how COVID-19 has changed cheerleading life, here is what they say. University of Illinois at Chicago’s cheer team located in Chicago’s West loop cheer members have committed themselves to socially distanced open gyms, two in-person practices, and weekly COVID testing.
Banke Angelica, a senior at UIC, spoke about her experience as a member on the spirit team. “We’ve actually held in-person practice as usual, but we also get tested for COVID three times a week. Though we are furnace enough to be in-person things just aren’t the same.” Ranging from amusing falls to wardrobe malfunctions (such as the squad that tried some new, tighter skirts that ended up lending literal meaning to the "splits") there are many cheerleader stories about things that change the season. Stories about the mishaps, and trials of learning cheer skills can help inspire others to persevere and make their practices have more meaning when those moments are no longer possible due to COVID.
By contrast in nearby Evanston, the white and purple - Big 10 powerhouse Northwestern University’s spirit squad has not had any practice since March 2020. Since the world stopping, two-month quarantine began, Northwestern’s spirit squad have experienced the depriving social connections they would've received in a COVID atmosphere, but the lack of concern from the Spirit director has left the members of team - lonely.
Catherine Zdunek, an English major, and a cheerleader at Northwestern spoke about the involvement in the 2020 football season and 2020-21 basketball season. “If we would be cheering for basketball season, that’s when they would start practice again. I think for now, they just don’t want to have more people being in contact with each other.”
While the option isn’t available this season for the Northwestern spirit teams, basketball games, football games, and practices are where cheer squads form the connections that can last a lifetime. Cheerleading has been a part of my life since I was 10 years old and in 5th grade on the Southside of Chicago at the bright yellow and green Beasley Academic Center.
DePaul has tried its best to maintain a sense of love and family with cheer sense the pandemic started, but things don’t feel the same. However, there have also been advantages to the Zoom cheerleading era. Here is what Chicago cheerleading While the option isn’t available this season for the Northwestern spirit teams, basketball games, football games, and practices are where cheer squads form the connections that can last a lifetime.
Supporting each other through difficulties, acknowledging each other's accomplishments and learning to change from individuals into a cohesive team can provide some of the most inspiring stories of all. Cheerleading has definitely changed from the days of big pom pons and toe touches . With the stunts and tumbling we do, it is one of the most dangerous sports for women.
Cheerleaders are real athletes and cheerleading is definitely a sport. So, for other sports such as basketball to continue as if there is no pandemic happening at all is just unbelievable to me.
Cheer is definitely something that looks better to the naked eye; however the virtual cheer experience is a something I’ll remember forever. I hope to see a filled stadium with a loud crowd next fall.