One of the best things about being a student is being a part of a society and spending time with people who share common interests with you. There are so many different societies so make sure you go to Fresher’s Fair and find the right one for you. I find mine quite late, only at the start of my placement year. I joined Cheerleading society and am really happy for my choice.
I have never done anything of that sort before, not even gymnastics. I have never even though of being a cheerleader because I saw it only in American movies. However, cheerleading is becoming more and more popular in United Kingdom and two and a half years ago the first cheerleading team was formed in University of Bradford as well. Since then the team has improved incredibly.
I would have never imagined how much hard work it actually takes. This is a true team sport and we have to support and encourage each other constantly. We are a team but at the same time each person’s contribution counts. It is not like normal dancing where if someone does not show up, they can just move people around and everything will be fine. No, we work in stunt groups and it is hard to move people around because each group consists of certain amount of people, if they are not there, the stunt cannot go up (if you are puzzled what stunt is, see the pictures).
A lot of people ask me to whom we are cheering for. My answer is – we are competing in cheerleading competitions and only occasionally for some sports team. This year there were two competitions, one in February and one in March. Competition time is really stressful and you have to put a lot of effort and energy. Every training session we had a lot of falls, injuries, tears, emotional breakdowns and when we got home we could not move. But I can assure you that after a great performance you feel amazing and you know all the hard effort has paid off.
But the good news is that there we are having a lot of fun together as well. Every Wednesday we hold a Social, which is basically a party between team every week. Sometimes we go for a meal or for a drink or just watch some movie at someone’s place. And of course, training can be quite fun as well. We have two training session each week, on Fridays and Sundays.
If you want to try something new and think it could cheerlead, come and join our Raven’s team. Guys are very, very welcome as well. We need some strong man to lift the girls. If you join the team, you join the Ravens family.
At the Vice-Chancellor leaving party
If you’re a current student you can join our Facebook page, or if you are a fresher join here. You can follow us on Twitter: @RavensBradford and you will find our stall at Fresher’s Fair.
Leave a Reply