In 2002, the club All-Girl Cheerleading team was born. Since its formation seven years ago the team has made its name known nationwide, won numerous awards and raised concern for other teams up and down the east coast. However, it hasn’t received the same recognition and acceptance from its own University.
Unbeknownst to most, the All-Girl team is made up of two levels of competitors, Advanced (Red Team) and Intermediate (White Team), and has been a threat to many other all-girl teams, many of which are recognized as varsity sports at their own universities.
Sara Colvard, president of the club and junior in accounting, said the team works much harder than people give it credit for.
“People think since it’s a club it’s not hard, or as difficult,” Colvard said. “We compete at the same level [coed does] at nationals, and we pay for it ourselves so we have to really work for it.”
Since the team is entirely self-sufficient, it has to get its name out whatever way possible. Many of the girls have jobs outside of school and cheerleading in order to fund the team. Since the team isn’t school-sponsored in any way, it has to hold its practices after class hours and off campus and pay for facilities and coaches by itself.
Vice President Martika Rush, a junior in communication, finds funding to be especially important since the team tries so hard to set forth a good example.
“We pride ourselves on being good examples,” Rush said. “Why wouldn’t you want to fund a good example for your school, for your University? We deserve it.”
The team greatly believes in community service as a means for bonding, doing its part in the community and receiving more recognition in the area. The team has won the N.C. State Club Sports Community Service award the past two years. Its success in community service is mirrored in its accomplishments in competitions, especially at last year’s NCA College Nationals.
“Our Advanced team placed third and the Intermediate team placed fifth,” Colvard said. “It was crazy.”
The Advanced team is very proud to have actually placed higher than the coed varsity team, though many are not aware of this accomplishment. The coed team placed 4th in the nation, while the Red Team came away in the 3rd place position. Nikki Holler, a former coed cheerleader now cheering for the All-Girl team, said the biggest myth concerning the All-Girl team is it is not as talented as the Coed team.
“That’s a big misconception … that since we don’t cheer at games and things like that we’re not as good,” Holler said. “We’re actually not allowed on the field.”
This raises another area of concern for the team. White Team coach Jamie Howell, a former coed cheerleader, knows the politics firsthand regarding the disallowance of the team’s participation on the field. Howell mentioned N.C. State is the “only school in North Carolina” whose all-girl team isn’t allowed to participate.
The All-Girl team has already found its niche nationwide, becoming a recruiting and networking tool for many cheerleaders. However, it hopes to find the same comfort on its home turf. Colvard said she wishes everyone would recognize the team’s purpose and success, and realize what a good representation of the University the All-Girl team is.
“Give us more recognition, more respect, more appreciation,” Colvard said. “We put the N.C. State name out there so much, and people don’t know that.”
