The U’s cheerleaders are saying goodbye to bare midriffs and hello to a new head coach who wants more professionalism.
This year, the athletics department hired former U cheerleader Janet Hirshberg to take over the cheer program.
“We want cheerleading to be like an academic program,” Hirshberg said. “We’ve also changed the uniform style…it gives us a more collegiate look.”
In the past, the squad was a club that anyone could try out for, including non-students, Hirshberg said.
Cheerleaders are now required to be U students carrying at least 12 credit hours.
Some members of last year’s team have left because they were not students or could not carry a load that heavy, she said.
“It’s good to have a professional coach,” said Cassie Potter, a sophomore in biology. “It feels more like college cheer now.”
Practice is now held for three hours, twice a week, to get the team “game-day ready,” Hirshberg said.
More planning is done before games, and more coordination is worked out with the Crimson Line.
“Practices are scheduled with the band, so nobody runs into a tuba,” she said.
Improvements are noticeable, said assistant coach Liz Claridge.
“The skill level has already improved tremendously,” she said.
Hirshberg said she hopes to take the cheer team to a competitive level, where it was 17 years ago, when she cheered under head coach John Taylor.
“The cheer program has had a 17-year decline since he left,” she said. “He ran a top-notch program.”
Current members of the team are excited about the changes.
Hirshberg is “good at leading us,” said yell leader Matt Parkin, an undeclared freshman. “This year is our builder year. Next year tryouts are going to be harder.”
More discipline in the team caused a few conflicts within the program at the beginning of the year, Hirshberg said. Returning cheerleaders who were not used to the requirements struggled to conform to the new rules.
But cheerleaders now accustomed to Hirshberg’s leadership, said they are excited for the changes.
“We are going in a positive direction-going back to how it was five to 10 years ago,” said male captain Kory Uyetake, a junior in exercise and sports science. “And that is because the coaches and (Hirshberg) will take us there.”
Female captain Tiffannee Lund said team spirit is also up.
“Last year it felt really cliquey. Our leaders are really helping unify the team,” she said.
The team works hard because it knows its role during the games, Parkin said.
“With cheerleaders, the crowd is way more effective, and the team plays better,” he said.