The spirit of attending Auburn sporting events is enhanced by the group of cheerleaders who provide entertainment, fan management and a source of team support.
The Auburn cheerleaders display so much energy, enthusiasm and talent that they make it seem so effortless.
However, cheerleading entails a great deal of hard work, time commitment and sacrifice, but it also offers numerous long-term benefits such as the creation of lifelong friendships and memories of being able to cheer on and represent their university.
Only 21 Auburn University students are able to experience the thrills of representing Auburn as cheerleaders every school year.
Auburn’s cheerleading squad, which is composed of 10 females, 10 males and one mic-man, attends football games, men's and women’s basketball games, volleyball games, gymnastic meets, appearances and other events throughout the school year.
Sommer Henry, junior in journalism, is a co-head cheerleader for the upcoming 2016–17 school year.
Henry said cheerleading is a yearlong commitment.
According to Henry, cheerleading tryouts are in April, and during the summer, the team will attend Camp War Eagle and have practices.
From Aug. 1–16, they will have practice every day.
During this time, they are not allowed to make any other plans, as they do not know their schedule until each day.
“Day-to-day we know nothing other than cheerleading, and that is just to get ready for football season and everything else because we have to get really prepared,” Henry said.
For a typical week in the fall semester, they will have practice every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday night, and they will have numerous appearances throughout the week from elementary schools to pep rallies.
Henry said football game days are very hectic from the moment they show up four hours before kickoff to set up until the moment they are finished cleaning up after the game with Tiger Walk, appearances, Spirit March and cheering all in between.
They then cheer at volleyball and men's and women’s basketball, and they also cheer throughout winter break for basketball games.
In the spring semester, they continue to cheer at the basketball games and SEC tournaments as well as gymnastics meets.
They attended the women’s basketball NCAA Tournament in Texas during spring break, and during this time, they also have clinics for tryouts for the upcoming school year.
Henry said cheerleading can be overwhelming, as it is a big time commitment, but it is totally worth it.
“A lot of us are in sororities and fraternities, and I went to one event the whole entire first semester, so you give up going to stuff like that, but it’s totally worth it because there are only 10 girls and 10 guys and a mic-man in the whole campus that get to do this,” Henry said. “We would give up anything to do that, and we said that’s a part of it, and you know it before you ever tryout.”
Henry said the team aspect has made the cheerleaders so close with each other because they get to experience more together than anything else.
“It’s always somehow the greatest people that just click and mesh together, and I’ve made my absolute best friends of my whole life just through these few years of cheering, and it’s with the people that I didn’t know before I tried out,” Henry said. “The people as much as anything else — as much as it is an honor, the people are one of the biggest blessings that have come along with Auburn cheerleading.”
Jackson Walraven, junior in mechanical engineering, is the other co-head cheerleader for the upcoming 2016–17 school year.
Walraven said something interesting is most guys who end up as cheerleaders probably never imagined that happening, as is the case with him.
“I know when I came to college I never thought I’d be a cheerleader and here I am today as the head cheerleader,” Walraven said.
Walraven said most of the male cheerleaders are athletes who do not go on to the college level, so they get into cheerleading as a way to still have fun with a group of people and work hard.
Walraven, who played four sports in high school, said he was introduced to Auburn cheerleading through his sister who was a cheerleader and when he met some guys who were cheerleaders.
“I really looked up to them and like them, and they kind of encouraged me to just go check it out,” Walraven said. “I checked it out, and I really enjoyed the athletic side of cheerleading and all the stunting and stuff, and then I also met some really cool guys, and I decided I wanted to hang out with them, so I tried out.”
Walraven said his experience with Auburn cheerleading so far has been great.
“It’s been a lot of fun, and I get to hang out with a lot of cool people,” Walraven said. “I’m happy that I get to put in the work and effort to try to make this team better along with Sommer.”
Daniel Phillips, junior in biomedical sciences, was the mic-man for the current 2015–16 school year.
Phillips said there are numerous perks to being a cheerleader from standing on the court with players at basketball games to getting heaps of free Under Armour gear.
“Being able to support Auburn has been an incredible amount of fun as well as getting into all the games and being right there in the middle of what some people would consider one of Auburn’s greatest traditions, which is Tiger Walk and the eagle flight at football games,” Phillips said. “You get free access to yell as loud as you want without people judging you because that’s your job.”
Phillips said even though the workload can be heavy, especially during football season, being a cheerleader is the experience of a lifetime.
“It’s definitely one of the greatest things you can do at Auburn, but it’s a sacrifice” Phillips said.
Phillips emphasized how great the team has been in making his time as a cheerleader such an enjoyable and unforgettable experience.
“The relationships will be missed … and having that tight camaraderie with 20 other people and the coach and trainers,” Phillips said. “I’m really hoping to keep those relationships even though I’m not doing cheer again; that’ll be the No. 1 thing I’ll miss.”
Phillips said that in the future, even though he will not be wearing the uniform and will be outside of the Tiger Walk instead of inside it, he will still go to the games and yell as loud as he can.
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