The University of South Carolina women's and co-ed cheerleading teams head to Daytona Beach, Florida, this Wednesday to compete in the NCA National Collegiate Championship.
The teams will be competing against other top collegiate cheerleading programs from around the country, such as the University of Louisville, Oklahoma State University and Texas Tech University, with a preliminary round on Thursday and a finals round on Friday.
After attending the NCA College Camp in Myrtle Beach in August, both teams qualified for a bid to nationals and received the Gold Paid Bid to the NCA National Collegiate Championship.
Each Gamecocks team has competed in nationals 11 times, with the highest placing for women's being third place and for co-ed, fourth. Head Coach Erika Goodwin is finishing up her 12th season coaching both the women's and co-ed teams. Goodwin and the teams look to continue placing higher each year.
“The teams work hard all year long to prepare to compete outside of their primary role of spirit leaders for our other athletic teams," Goodwin said of the teams' preparation during the year. "We practice in the fall on skill development and the spring is more dedicated on conditioning to put the skills into a 2 minute 15 second routine.”
The teams practice eight hours a week beginning in mid-August and continue until nationals. The cheerleading teams' season consists of cheering; performing at football, basketball and volleyball games; appearing at events on campus; and preparing for nationals. With such a time commitment, the biggest challenge is working on routines when part of the team is on the road for away games.
The teams have practiced all year to increase their level of difficulty in order to throw skills to compete at the highest level. With an energetic routine packed with tumbling, stunts, baskets and pyramids, the teams hope that the judges and the crowd will be impressed and entertained. For Goodwin, the goal is that the teams perform to the best of their abilities.
Megan Kunkel, a fourth-year marketing and global supply chain and operations management student, is a member of the women's team and thinks the choreography will make her team stand out. When the teams compete Thursday, Kunkel will be taking the mat for the last time.
“I have no doubt that all of our hard work will pay off with two routines that hit, which is our team goal,” she said.