Day in the life of a: Cheerleader

Who has the power to make 80,000 fans chant at the top of their lungs? A USC cheerleader.

Lauren Oliva, a third-year hotel, restaurant and tourism management student, loves the chance to pump up the crowd during Gamecock football games.

“I love jumping up and down and getting everyone involved,” Oliva said. 
This is Oliva’s first year on the squad. She said tryouts were nerveracking.

“There are a few hundred girls there and everyone is good,” Oliva said. “It’s intense. Everyone is in shape and everyone has all the skills.” While she’s been cheering since middle school, competing for a spot on the USC team brought cheering to a whole new level.

Alexis Heidelberger, a third-year criminal justice student, said making the squad for USC helped fulfill a lifelong dream.

“It’s been my lifelong dream to cheer for a big school like USC. When I made the team, it was one of the best days of my life.”

Claire Fox, a fourth-year sports medicine student, said, “It’s an honor to be on the team.” 

Twenty-four girls comprise the all-girls squad at USC. In the fall semester, football is their focus. In the spring, the girls go to cheerleading competitions across the U.S.

Each week the girls practice for two hours, three nights a week. They begin practicing specific gameday routines weeks in advance. Weekly practices consist of running, stretching, jumps, tucks, tumbling and conditioning. The girls are expected to always be in peak physical condition.

“The uniform is definitely great motivation to stay in shape,” Oliva said.
The cheerleading coach also expects perfection. If the girls don’t know the routine, they don’t cheer.

“The coach doesn’t cut us any slack,” Oliva said.

After all the week’s hard work, the girls get to have some fun on gameday. Oliva said one of her favorite parts of being a cheerleader is getting ready for the games.

“Coach loves makeup,” Oliva said. “For game makeup we have to have bright red lipstick, a tattoo on our cheek and a huge bow in our hair.”

Olivia and her roommates, who are also cheerleaders, blast loud music and all get ready together to lead the crowd in the night’s cheers.

“We finally get to do our job on gameday,” Fox said.

While she loves cheering now, the college level wasn’t always a sure thing for Oliva. Her senior year in high school, she was in a car accident that broke many of the bones in her face. Doctors advised her not to cheer after reconstructive surgeries that put titanium plates and screws in her face.

“Cheerleading has always been my favorite thing,” said Oliva. “Wanting to cheer in college is what gave me motivation throughout all of the surgeries.”
As a base cheerleader, one who lifts “flyers” in for tricks, if someone were to fall on her face, all of the reconstructive surgeries could be made useless in a moment.

“I put a lot on the line for cheerleading,” Oliva said.

But Oliva says it’s worth it to live out her dream.

After cheering her first game, Oliva said it was the most amazing experience she has ever had.

However, all of the girls do much more than cheer. The team is composed of women with pre-professional majors, high GPAs and an impressive resume of campus activities.

“The hardest part is balancing my schedule,” said Heidelberger. 

Above all else, being a USC Cheerleader means having a great group of friends.

“Everyone is friends, we all hang out,” Oliia said. “Everyone motivates everyone to be better.”