ANELLE STRAWSBURG
Staff Writer
Picture this: Firestone Fieldhouse, Saturday, 7:38 p.m., bright pom poms flashing, girls in the air flying and 16 strong, clear voices leading an exuberant crowd chanting “Go Waves Go!” Only something goes dreadfully wrong. Instead of the crazy, fan-filled bleachers screaming in response to the women’s enthusiastic cries there is instead … silence.
Not surprised? Maybe that is because it is an all too familiar silence, one that the Pepperdine Cheer team is unpleasantly greeted with most evenings they suit up to cheer and support the Waves athletic teams.
“I love performing in front of a packed gym,” said senior four-year cheer member Rachel Garrett. “But our crowd sucks. They can be so unresponsive to everything we try to get them engaged, instead of joining in with us they just sit and stare, it can become quite frustrating.”
Cheer teammate junior Tiffany Blevins agreed.
“Being in front of a big crowd at big games is a lot of fun to cheer at,” she said, “but the rest of the time fans just don’t get into it.”
The cheer team varies its weekly practices, but each one is spent practicing dances, cheers, tumbling and stunts.
Although in years past the women have taken part in the USA national cheer competition in Las Vegas, this year they will solely be focusing on cheering at team events, specifically the men’s and women’s basketball games and the women’s volleyball games.
“I love cheering for one of my best friends Lauren Wenski on the basketball team,” Garrett said. “It’s also great to cheer at the men’s games because the guys are so much fun.”
With only 16 girls, the group bonds relatively quick every year, and despite sometimes less-than-stellar audience involvement, they always look forward to cheering on the Waves.
“We have a pretty small group of girls, and we all connect really well,” Blevins said. “Some of my best friends I’ve made because of cheer.”
Despite disappointments in the past, the cheer team is hoping that this will be the year that students join with them and step up to the plate in supporting athletics.
“I want fans to yell with us!” Garrett said. “We have signs held up for a reason, we are there to lead the crowd in cheering. We are under a lot of pressure from the athletic department to get the crowd going. So just participate with us. That is what we are there to do — to get the crowd going.”
“I’m looking forward to this year because it looks like Riptide has a good head on its shoulders, and I’m hoping they’ll come through in cheering at home games.”
09-28-2006