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Society Spotlight: The Falconettes

People seem to have misconceptions about cheerleading being a bunch of ditsy blonde girls prancing around in shorts skirts with pom poms but think again. Cheerleading is an intense sport which is a concoction of strength, stamina and commitment mixed with dance, gymnastics, jumps and stunting with a massive slice of fun. For all of those who haven’t come across the term stunting, it is when you get to throw girls in the air which sometimes includes fancy twists and flips. And for any of you men out there who want to show off your guns, this is for you! It is most definitely not just for girls. This year has seen 4 male cheerleaders join and they are a massive part of the team. People often say “but I can’t dance or do gymnastics”, but I personally only mastered how to do a cartwheel after a year of trying! Ability really doesn’t matter. If you can’t do it, so what? All we ask is that our members try. We are there as a bunch of friends more than anything. We work hard, but also have tons of fun in the process.

A typical training begins with warming up and a bit of tumbling and gymnastics, followed usually by either a jump sequence, dance or some stunting, it really varies from training to training so it never gets boring! We are currently working towards a competition in mid-February. Speaking to many of the team, one of the highlights of last year was finishing our competition routine and coming off the mat. We all felt amazing and were beaming with pride. This year we are planning on entering three competitions, which is an increase from the solitary one that we entered last year. We are also planning to enter more teams as well. We currently have one all girl level 1 cheer squad, one co-ed (male and female) level 3 cheer squad, a dance squad and, at the moment, 3 stunt teams who are planning to compete in an April Competition.

As well as working hard to compete, we have many social events on our calendar to let our hair down and socialise with our good friends, the Falcons, the university’s American Football team. Both teams are never far away from each other, and events are arranged for both teams to attend. Not only do the Falconettes have a social connection with the Falcons, but they attend the Falcons games to cheer them on and give them the support they deserve. It’s a fantastic day and well worth attending.

Very often people say to me, “well I was thinking about joining cheerleading…” and I always tell them to come along for a session to see if they like it. You don’t know unless you try! Anyone is always welcome and any member of the team or committee will be more than happy to answer any questions you might have. All of our information is on our website at http://www.kentfalconettes.webs.com/ Feel free to have a look, even if it’s just to give us some support!

Here is to 2010, the year of the Falconettes.

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