ALANA WINGATE
Staff Writer
Basketball, football, hockey and soccer are sports featured in the media regularly. Meanwhile, cheerleading is often widely underrepresented in the athletic community, as many people fail to see the athleticism that goes into the sport. The Fredonia Blue Devils women’s cheerleading team is one of the many cheer teams that dedicate their time to training and perfecting their craft.
With excitement for the new year and what’s to come, head coach of the team Julie Troche welcomed back returning team members this season as well as many newcomers.
“I am so excited for the team this year,” Troche said. “What I think is really most important is that they’re having fun and they’re laughing because it just makes it more enjoyable on the mat.”
Many of the girls on the team began cheering at an early age such as Kyra Phillips, a freshman early childhood education major.
“I’ve been cheering since I was five, and I thought I could walk away from it. But I came here, and I couldn’t,” Phillips said. “I was messaged by the girls on the team, and I saw them, and it instantly just felt like home here.”
Although the team is full of girls with many years of cheer experience under their belts, it does not stop them from also giving those with little to no experience a chance to also learn and advance.
“Those that have higher level skills are so patient with those that are still working on improving their skills,” Troche said. “Those members who are still working on improving their skills are taking constructive criticism and not taking it to heart. They are really openly saying, ‘I want to do this, and I want to be better.’”
Sophomore early childhood education major Makayla Barone exemplified this very attitude when she first joined the team by fervently expressing her excitement to be a part of something new to her.
“I wanted to cheer so bad. I didn’t cheer before college because I did other
things in high school, [but] I just wanted to cheer,” Barone said. “[Learning] was really hard, but it was so much fun, and [it] was worth it. I’d do it all over again.”
With positive energy like Barone’s, it makes it easy for long-time cheerleaders like Isabella Triflo, a junior biology major, to show newcomers with determination the ropes.
“I love taking in the freshmen, and it’s really nice to take people underneath my wing,” Triflo said. “We have a girl who is a biology major, and I love helping her with her classes and stuff.”
Since the team consistently has new members who join them each term, Troche makes team bonding a priority, as she believes that it is essential to sport culture.
“The culture of a sports team is the most important [thing],” Troche said. “I believe building that culture and building that trust in one another and becoming a family is what will move a program forward.”
Even though Troche organizes team bonding experiences, that doesn’t stop the girls from getting together outside of practice and having some fun on their own accord.
“Before the season started, to get to know the girls, we painted name plates for our lockers and that was super fun,” Barone said.
A big part of the team’s season is their fundraising efforts to provide money that goes into the upkeep of their sport. Although they are a part of overall athletic department fundraisers, they also host their own initiatives to further benefit their team in more ways than one.
“Our own personal fundraising for our sport really comes from our competition we host in January — that’s our main one. It brings in so many athletes,” Troche said. “The event is also a big recruiting opportunity for us, with high schools, dance teams and all-star teams coming in. … Last year, we also started doing a Krispy Kreme fundraiser.”
Although the team is looking to gain support, they also make it their mission to do a significant amount of volunteer work to give back to the community.
“For the team, I’m a part of … the Student Athlete Association Committee. There’s two members from each team around campus, and we work hard to get athletics involved in the community. We do a lot of events, like we [help] host Fall Sweep,” said Triflo. “We just did a Halloween event, and then we do things for students around campus. We do like mental health events … just like fun things. We like ice skating every once in a while to get the community together.”
Throughout history, cheerleading has been overlooked in the athletic community. Many members of society do not view cheerleading as a sport, even with all of the training and athleticism that goes into perfecting their routines.
“I can say that within our athletics department we have very similar, if not the exact same expectations as other sports teams,” Troche said. “We have mandatory workouts once the season starts as well as during the off seasons with the trainer, we have to meet certain GPA requirements through the department and we participate in any fundraising that the department might be doing.”
Many girls on the team have experienced the stigmatism that comes with parts of society invalidating cheer as a sport. Corie Van Deusen-Farwell, a freshman accounting major, with 15 years of cheer training, said that the team put in just as much work and dedication as any other sport to not be considered one.
“We put in all the same work that other athletes do. We have our mandatory workouts, we have our mandatory practice, [yet] some people say, ‘it’s not a sport,’ Van Deusen-Farwell said. “[But] we put in the same work that every other athlete does.”
Cheerleading has more than one component of it that the team’s members must learn; cheering for other sports teams is a different style of cheer than the competitive cheer style.
“There’s competitive cheering, and then there’s sideline cheering. I’ve done both,” Van Deusen-Farewell said.“I prefer the competitive side just because I love the thrill and the adrenaline that the competitions bring me. I’ve actually been a main base and a side base this year.”
Van Deusen-Farwell said that the main base in cheer is the one who usually holds a large portion of the weight, holding the main part of the foot with the side that holds the middle of girls when supporting the other girls for stunts.
When performing in competitions, the team is typically only allowed to have twenty girls on the mat. However, for other sporting games and events, the team can freely showcase more of its talent. When it comes to competitions, many of the girls feel the competition is the best and most exhilarating part of the season.
“I love competing, I live for competitive cheer — going to [championships in] Daytona was honestly the best thing that’s ever happened to me in my life,” Triflo said. “It’s one of my most amazing experiences ever that I literally rave talking about all the time. I love competing in every aspect and supporting other girls from other teams in other areas.”
Even with the nerves that come with the pressures of performing, the team endeavors to feel the energy and to enjoy the thrill that comes with every performance.
“There’s definitely competition. It’s nerve-wracking, but it’s also very warm and welcoming as well because there’s always girls supporting girls and boys as well. It’s amazing,” Triflo said.
Even with all the commitments the team requires, the girls manage to balance their school and team responsibilities.
“I think I balance it all because we have set practices. Like I know when I have to be at practice,” Barone said. “I know when I have to be at workouts and then I just like to plan my day around that.”
The team also manages to make use of benefits that are put in place to support their educational needs and assist in the development of their future careers.
“Julie’s a teacher, and since I’m going into education, she has a lot of resources, and she gives me a lot of tips,” Barone explained. “She also hosts tutoring hours that we can go to that help our grades.”
Overall the cheer squad is there for one another academically, physically and socially, making sure everyone feels comfortable and encouraged in the process.
“I’ve never walked onto a team where it just instantly clicked with everyone, and I just felt welcome,” Phillips said. “[But], I was able to talk to literally anyone on the team my first day, and I wasn’t even officially on the team yet.”
Coach Troche and the team both have the same mantra when it comes to those interested in cheer. If any individual wants to try cheer, they believe they should try out for Fredonia’s team.
“Never be afraid to try out, you just never know,” Troche said. “Maybe once you make it through trials, you’ll say this is for me or no I’m not too sure about it, but if you don’t try, you’ll never know.’
Anyone interested in becoming a Blue Devil cheerleader should reach out to head coach Julie Troche at troche@fredonia.edu for tryouts in the future.