The club all-girl cheerleading teams are finished with tryouts and preparing for competitions around the country, including the National Cheerleaders Association College Nationals in the spring. With a total of 80 girls between the advanced and intermediate teams, the they are looking forward to an exciting season and have high hopes, according to Mallory Lambeth.
Lambeth, a third-year member of the squad, said N.C. State’s intermediate all-girl team took second place at nationals the past two years and is looking to do better this season. It defeated UNC the past two years.
“Our main goal is to do well in competitions, especially in NCA College Nationals in April,” Lambeth said. “It seems far off, but in reality, everything we do from the first day of practice up until that point is preparing us for doing well in that competition. We’re really looking for a national title this year.”
According to Lambeth, the team is working hard and has good skills this year.
“I’m really impressed with all of the girls who joined the squad this year. There’s a lot of talent and even more potential,” Lambeth said. “What really surprised me is how hard-working all the girls are. You can tell they really want to improve by the way they keep working the same skills over and over at practice until they’re perfect.”
Club President Jamie Howell said she is thrilled to have doubled the team’s number of girls and is pleased with the team’s chemistry. Naturally, she said, the goal this early in the season is to continue to build the chemistry before they get further into the year.
“We are probably the only team that practices so late, from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m., which can be hard, but each of the girls pushes the other. We are a strong bunch of girls, and we all support one another,” Howell said. “Also, girls from the opposite team will come to practices and help cheer the other one on. It’s great.”
A newly-added member, Natalie Griffith, said she has found the team to be driven and determined.
“To say that we are teammates is an understatement. We work hard as one entity, supporting each other, in order to excel together,” Griffith said. “As a freshman, I am lucky to be a part of such an encouraging team and have the opportunity to form close bonds with incredibly talented girls. It’s going to be a year of hard work, but it will undoubtedly pay off in the end.”
The team is not funded by the school because it is a club sport. However, through fundraisers and other ways of sponsorship, the team has been working on ways to get the bills paid, according to Howell.
“We plan on doing a Cold Stone fundraiser sometime soon and have already had a car wash,” Howell said. “We do a lot of community service, and we actually, starting this year, will help to cheer for other club sports like hockey. We want to support our school and other club sports.”
As for whether the girls would ever want to compete against the varsity squad, Howell and Lambeth said even though they have equal talent, they wouldn’t want to because it’s a different game when dealing with a coed team.
“We’re all cheerleaders who represent the Wolfpack, so in that respect we’re all on the same team,” Lambeth said. “When our squads go to nationals, we’re really supportive of each other.”
Lambeth and Howell said it is important to them to have the opportunity to represent their school as athletes.
“It would be nice to be considered for doing the same things as they do, like performing at pep rally, which we are trying to do, or even help cheer at the big games like Carolina, Duke, Wake Forest and the Big Event,” Howell said. “We want to be recognized.”
One member, Gabby Newman, has gotten some recognition from American Cheerleader magazine with a feature story and cover picture. She said they have the same talent level as varsity and see the program sky-rocketing in the future.
“There is a lot of potential in this team. I believe in these girls. Even after I graduate, I know that this team will continue to get better and will win national championships,” Howell said. “We go out and recruit and even have people come to us looking to try out next year or two years from now. The team will keep growing and the talent will only get better. There will be no going down hill, it will be all up hill from now.”