Dwindling numbers has been the theme for the 2008-2009 spirit squad.
The squad began the season with 13 members, but over the course of the fall semester, the cheerleading team has lost about half of those athletes.
“A lot of (women) just had school related issues, health issues and a lot of safety reasons,” junior captain Chimare Eaglin said. “People have gotten hurt during the season and in trying to prevent that from happening again, they have left the squad.”
While some members left for health and safety reasons, other younger members found the transition to a collegiate level cheer squad too difficult to adjust.
“We are a young squad and a lot of (women) come in expecting it to be like their high school squads, and a lot of times it is everything but that,” senior captain Katie Hayes said. “Sometimes it’s just hard for (them) to make the transition onto a new squad.”
Head coach Taylor Schreiner said many of these athletes have left the squad in order to refocus their attention on school.
“We had three (women) that have had a few injuries and then the rest have just decided to really concentrate on school and classes and keeping grades up,” she said.
With only seven remaining members, the squad has chosen not to compete in this year’s Heart of America Athletic Conference competition.
“The seven (women) that we do have left all decided that they would not go this year, but they are going to just help me recruit,” Schreiner said.
Recruiting will be the key for the squad to rebuild its numbers.
The team hosted a recruiting fair in November and has seen an increase in interest from its Web site.
Schreiner said she is excited for her remaining athletes to be involved in the recruitment process this year.
“The (women) are excited to help me recruit, and I have told them if they know any (women) from their high school or anything like that to let me know,” Schreiner said.
Schreiner hopes to build her squad up to 18 to 20 members for the 2009-2010 school year.
“We are trying to get the word out that we are always interested in people trying out, but we are not letting this get us down,” Eaglin said.
