Cheering Nationals

Orono,ME-The Umaine cheering squad is competing in the NCA national collegiate cheerleading competition on april 9th in Daytona Beach, Florida. There is just one problem--they still need to raise about $1500 more. The student government gave them about $4000 less than last year and with the weak economy, fundraisers did not go well at all this year because less and less people are willing to donate. Last week, the cheerleaders met in the call center in the basement of the Alumni house and called former cheerleaders in hopes that they would donate money via check, credit card, money order, or cash. It is unknown how much money was raised during this event because they are awaiting arrival of money in the mail. Beginning this past summer, the cheerleaders took part in multiple fundraisers including a golf tournament, car wash, football game raffles, jewelry orders, fashion shows, youth cheer day, pass the megaphone at hockey games, along with a required $200 in sponsor money from businesses each cheerleader is required to get. Sadly, because the cheering team is considered a "club" and not a sport at Maine, there is close to no funding from the school to help them in their endeauvers. The cheering team needed to raise $30,000 to compete in Daytona this year. Because of the price of fuel and other things that went up, plane tickets, bus services, and even hotal rooms have gotten more and more expensive since last year. It's interesting because although the cheerign squad isn't technically an officially recognized sport at Maine, we are held to the same standards as other athletes like codes of conduct, GPA standards, and we are required to be at every mens and womens basketball game as well as football game. If you didn't already know, the UMaine cheering squad is amazing and we are competing this year in the D1 small coad division. We are up against really large schools like Lousiville and the Univeristy of Colorado, Boulder. Last year we placed 14th in our division but this year, we plan to place in the top ten at least. The cheerleaders are different from other athletes in that we appreciate every little thing we are given because we work our tails off all year long raising money just for the opprotunity to perform a 2 and a half minute routine in front of thousands of people and proudly represent our school with more spirit than anyone can even imagine. When we run out ont0 that floor chanting "BLACK BEARS", all of the hard work we put in really pays off.