Seniors Look to Pursue Cheering in College

Three times a week, seniors Cate Birkenmeier and Heather Nelson go to the gym to practice for their college cheer tryouts with a workout: stretching and then moving on to practicing their standing back-flips. They always try to ease into working on their harder stunts, such as flying with a partner.

College cheer isn’t something either girl has dreamed of for long––Birkenmeier decided she wanted to tryout for cheer at Kansas State University during the spring of her junior year. She wanted to be involved in college and be a part of something from the start. She started to pay closer attention to the cheerleaders at college games and see them in their front row seats and knew she wanted to be a part of that.

Birkenmeier thinks cheer will be a great way to meet a new group of people. The girls say one of the differences between high school and college cheer is partner stunting, doing stunts and flying with one other yell leader. This main difference is something that piqued Birkenmeier’s interest into trying out.

“It’s fun to be thrown in the air like that and be able to do cool things with just one person,” Birkenmeier said. “It interested me that a guy could hold one person up like that.”

For Nelson, the decision was more complicated.

Nelson had played soccer since kindergarten, and had been on a club soccer team since she was in third grade. At East, Nelson had played outside defender for the varsity team since freshman year. She had received first team all Sunflower League as a sophomore and honorable mention all Sunflower League for her junior year.

When Nelson made her final decision––that she wanted to try out for cheer at the University of Missouri––she knew it would be too difficult to balance that time commitment with playing East soccer. Nelson said that for soccer she had to be in good “running shape,” whereas for cheer she needs to have strong abs and back muscles. She didn’t think she would be able to go from a two hour soccer practice full of running straight to practicing tumbling and stunting for cheer tryouts. Making the choice to quit soccer and try out for college cheer was a difficult decision, though she feels it was the right one.

“She could play soccer in college if she wanted to, at a lot of schools,” soccer coach Jamie Kelly said. “She’s so tough and strong, and she’s very good.”

Birkenmeier and Nelson have both enjoyed high school cheer and will miss the other girls on their squad.

“It’s been really fun,” Birkenmeier said. “I like cheering at the games a lot, and it’s really fun to stunt with all the girls.”

Both girls know cheering in college is much different than in high school: in college, you are expected to be able to do things like a standing back tuck (standing back-flip) and to know how to stunt with just one other person. Birkenmeier and Nelson have been meeting as often as they can to work on stunts and technique. Twice a week, they meet with a friend from SM Northwest, who practices flying with them. The two have also hired a private tumbling coach, who helps work on perfecting their techniques three days a week.

“You have to work a lot harder, you have to be in way better physical shape,” Birkenmeier said. “I lift weights now for cheer. Also, a lot of people who cheer in college want to do something with cheer later on in life––I don’t think I want to.”

Holly Thomas, a 2004 East graduate, was a cheerleader for three years at KSU, and said that she had practices for three hours at night, Monday through Friday. There were sometimes when Thomas wished she was out doing other things, but ultimately she enjoyed it.

“You never understand the commitment until you actually do it,” Thomas said. “It’s definitely like a little family and it’s a great thing to do, but it’s your main focus.”

Birkenmeier is very anxious about the tryouts, because she won’t know anyone there and is unsure of what the tryouts will be like.

“A lot of the girls who tryout for college cheer come from Blue Valley and Olathe,” Birkenmeier said. “Their cheer is a lot more serious, because they have it as a class so they kind of know what to expect. Coming from Shawnee Mission, I feel like I don’t know.”

Thomas recalls her experience when she tried out at KSU and remembers it to be very nerve-wracking.

“You walk to the front of the line and they say, ‘throw a standing back tuck,’ or ‘throw the tumbling path of your choice,’ so it’s really intense,” Thomas said. “Everyone is there watching you and it’s open to the public so there’s people in the stands watching the tryouts as well.”

Birkenmeier feels like she is doing everything in her power to make the team and will be very disappointed if she doesn’t. Both girls still plan on attending their respective school, whether they make it or not. Nelson said that if she does not make the team at MU, she will know that it is just not meant to be.

“I’ll be embarrassed, but when I want something, I do everything that I can to get it,” Nelson said. “So, if I don’t make it then it’s just, everything happens for a reason, I guess.”

KSU and MU both hold their tryouts during the last weekend in April. Nelson will find out if she made the team the final day of tryouts while Birkenmeier is unsure of when she will find out. Both girls know they will be ready to do all they can in a few weeks when it comes time for them to try out.