Stephanie Snyder
Staff Reporter
After years of cheering on the sidelines and dancing during halftime, it is time to show support for the girls that have rooted on NCC athletic teams since day one. Having qualified during camp at Lewis University in August last year, both teams will be heading to Daytona Beach, Fla. April 9-13 where they will compete in nationals.
Some of the girls have competed in the past with their high school teams, but for the college, it is new to the program.
With the help of their new head coach and spirit director, Tierra Thompson, competing has become a part of their season schedule.
“When I came in we weren’t competing,” said Thompson. “I think overall I did come in and make some changes, but talent wise, we have a great skill level, which is why I thought competing would be really good for our school because a majority of the girls that came to our institution have done competitive cheer or dance before.”
With six years of coaching experience at the collegiate level, Thompson has helped the girls get back into the game, that is competition.
“Something I implemented this year is we went to camp at Lewis University so that we could be around other teams, who are competing or not competing, who just want to learn choreography and get better,” said Thompson. “It was a great experience; we did really, really well. I literally met my team that day and they had already been picked before I got hired. I met them Friday, went to camp on Saturday and on Sunday, and then in cheer we took third out of eight teams and dance took second out of four teams. That was a combination of D1 through D3 schools.”
With a positive outcome at the camp, Thompson felt that competing would benefit the girls and the program.
“We did really well for not ever doing that before and me meeting them two days prior to that,” said Thompson. “They totally had the talent before me prior to coming and that’s why I thought ‘why are we not competing?’ We could be bringing home first place trophies every year.”
Throughout the last few months Thompson has also brought in a few professionals that are able to assist her when it comes to developing both cheer and dance skills.
“I definitely bring in a lot of people who I know who are either in the industry or have background,” said Thompson. “One of the ladies that has been working with us, both cheer and dance, is a Lovable. Because I am more dance than cheer, I try to bring as many cheer related people as I know to make sure we’re getting better and I am able to provide what my cheerleaders need that I am not capable of doing myself.”
Thompson has implemented many new things to the spirit teams’ program from getting involved in the community, to utilizing mascot Chippy, and to having an alumni performance for homecoming. Along with this, the season continues to progress as the girls prepare for an upcoming competition before nationals.
“We are going to go to a competition March 9 on a Sunday and it’s in the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates,” said Thompson. “It’s a company called JAMfest, they host both cheer and dance competitions. Both teams are going to go and it gives them a chance to compete against people who will be there, but really more so for them, to get in front of a crowd and to perform it and then to also get feedback from the judges so we know what doesn’t show well to the judges so we can fix it.”
If any North Central student, faculty or staff member is interested in attending the March competition, the event will be free with a small fee for parking.
