New competitive cheer on campus

The University of South Dakota has added another club sport for the 2011-2012 school year — competitive cheerleading.

Freshman Alissa Thomsen said starting the student organization was something she and fellow cheerleader, sophomore Tessa Dee, realized had potential after a number of girls quit the sideline cheer team.

“There are so many girls on campus who have the talent to be cheerleaders but don’t want to sideline cheer for various reasons,” Thomsen said. “A lot of them don’t think sideline cheering pushes them enough and they want to do something more difficult.”

Thomsen said that once she realized the potential for a new group about two weeks ago, she started asking around to see if there was interest on campus for a competitive cheer team.

“So far, we’ve had 15 girls confirm that they’ll try out,” Thomsen said.

Freshman Abby Powell said she plans on trying out for the team.

“It’s something I’ve done all my life and I wanted to do it in college, but I wasn’t excited about the team we had here,” Powell said. “I’m excited to be part of a team of girls who love cheerleading as much as I do.

Dee said they had to go through the USD student organizations’ website and apply to become a student organization. That application then went on for approval from the Student Government Association and the USD athletic department, Dee said.

“We’ll be having tryouts with a goal of having 20 girls on the team,” Dee said. “Next year will be spent getting the team going and fundraising to support ourselves. Hopefully we’ll be able to compete at some area competitions.”

Along with competing, Thomsen said the team will be like U. Dance.

“We’ll compete, but we might not be performing at any football games,” Thomsen said. “We hope to, but the athletic department said we’ll have to wait and see. Right now, we have to prove ourselves as a club sport.”

Not only does the team provide another option for cheerleaders, it also could prove to be important during USD’s transition to Division I, Dee said.

“Most D-I schools have a competitive cheer team, especially the big schools, and it’s something we didn’t have,” Dee said.

Thomsen said it will add another element to the university’s athletic department.

“It’s entertaining to watch,” Thomsen said. “It’s a very intense sport in college and USD deserves to be a part of the college cheerleading world.”

Tryouts will be April 30 from 12-4 p.m. at the Wellness Center. Thomsen said tumbling and stunting experience is required and girls must have a standing back handspring to try out.