Growth of the Cheer and Dance Teams
Photo by Alaina Owens
A lot has transpired since the restarting of the Spirit teams, which consists of our dance and cheer teams. It has been active again since the Fall of 2019, starting with recruiting all school year long. Since then, members have come and gone (as well as coaches), but nevertheless the teams have still been having practices and attending on and off-campus events.
As of now, our cheer team includes Avery Cauley, Belle Lopez, Collin Gardner, Debbie Brown, Haley Puckett, Jackson LaCour, Lizzie Canady, Marina Rodriguez, Selena Edris, Shelby Roy, Tori Ligman, Audrey Laper, and Stan Melton. Dance currently has seven team members: Alaina Owens, April Jones, Nyla Pierce, Brittany Lee, Emma Greer, Marissa Stokes, and Sophia Lewis.
Photo by CCLA Spirit Teams
As mentioned earlier, the 2019-2020 school year was full of nonstop recruiting. For those who were already Centenary students, they worked out until further notice. The next school year, both teams got to have a performance for Homecoming week as their first appearance to the student body. They also had the chance to perform for LSU Health Shreveport. That March, the dance team competed in Nationals held in Arlington, Texas.
Summer of 2021 kicked off with their new recruits as they attended their appropriate summer camps--UCA Cheer and UCA Dance. There, they were challenged to step out of their comfort zones and work almost non-stop. They greeted the new school year by performing and introducing its new members at the Greek cookout event. When Red Revel was active, they also made an appearance there.
The team then suffered from their coach transferring, but that has yet to stop them. Both teams have been constantly having regular practices and workouts, as well as cheering and performing at home games. Being on the dance team myself, I’ve seen how many changes the spirit teams had to go through, and it is honestly impressive that we are still going on our own. Stan Melton, a sophomore on cheer stated, “As a program, we are working towards recruiting new talent that will help us move towards our goal of becoming a nationally competitive squad. We have been working really hard to recruit and grow as a team so that we can improve the overall game-day experience for all of our other athletes and students!”
For those who are unaware, it is important to mention that it is hard to decipher when there is a specific dance and cheer “season.” They are both year-round sports, full of conditioning, technique, practices, performances, and competition. Potential new coaches are still being actively interviewed in hopes of a new hire to continue to grow with what they have – with what WE have. Basketball season has just ended, but both cheer and dance will be at the announcement of the new Centenary football coach on March 30th, and the dance team’s next performance is planned to be April 10th at the home lacrosse game half-time. We are excited to continue to recruit incoming, or current, students with experience and grow as teams with a new coordinator soon.