ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) - With less than a week away from the UCA College Cheerleading National Championship at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, the phrase 'busy bee' is an understatement for us on the UCF Cheerleading team. Between juggling practices, performances, and classes, it can seem a little overwhelming at times. We remind ourselves to stay focused and not let the excitement of the week distract us.
If there is one thing our team has learned from this program, it is that the word 'student' always comes first in 'student-athlete.' Our program truly values what student-athlete means and understands that our education comes first. Being an athlete at UCF is a privilege and we are honored to represent our University this weekend at the National Championship.
For the past couple weeks, our schedule has been strategically filled with practices and performances in preparation for what this weekend will feel like. We treat every practice as if we were competing for the National Championship. We have been fortunate enough to perform our routine at both the men's and women's home basketball games.
This past weekend, we performed twice - once at half-time of the Women's Basketball game and once at Hagerty High School. We were also able to perform in front of a large crowd at our Friends and Family Showcase. Along with performing in front of multiple crowds, we simulate our warm-ups to best recreate what it's going to feel like as if we were about to compete at the National Championship. By doing this, we become familiarized with the pace of competition day and how exactly everything will play out.
With such a talented group of athletes on this team, we realize that our main focus this weekend is to do what we already know how to do and prove that to the judges. Our head coach Linda Gooch always reminds us to keep our emotions leveled by telling us, 'You can't let the highs be too high or the lows be too low.' By focusing on one element at a time and encouraging one another throughout the routine, we can surely get this done. For our team, the most important achievement for our program year after year is to get a team HIT (routine with no major errors) and represent the letters "UCF" on our chest the best we can.
Wednesday, we are holding another showcase for our UCF Cheerleading Alumni. We are looking forward to seeing many of them there to offer us their support and loan us their words of wisdom and encouragement as we take one step closer to competing for the UCA National Championship.
For the next week, the UCF Cheerleading team wants to invite all Knights fans to follow our 'Road to Nationals blog'. Follow the Knights on social media (Twitter/Facebook/Instagram) to stay updated as we provide an inside look on how our practices and performances are going. We would also like to encourage our fans to come out and support us on Jan. 15 at hp Field House at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, as we compete for the UCA College Cheerleading National Championship. The crowd and its energy are an important factor and we would love to have you there!
Go Knights, Charge On!
Ashlyn Heeter