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Home > Student Life > Hockey cheerleaders skate into the season
Hockey cheerleaders skate into the season
by kendra richards
STATESMAN STAFF WRITER
Tyler Sweeney / statesman
Amanda Planting, Candice Cummings and captain Jessica Gaiselhart practice with the squad.
Did you know that UMD has a cheerleading squad on ice? Well, they do, and when they aren't busy pumping up the crowd and helping out with promotions during games, the men's hockey cheerleading squad is working behind the scenes.
"The squad has been around for awhile," said Jessica Gaiselhart, one captain of the hockey cheerleading squad. "We used to be part of the athletics and got dropped, so now we are individually funded, and this is our sixth season [being an individually funded team]."
Because the organization is individually funded, the squad has to work hard to keep it going. "Now, we are considered an organization, we are volunteers, so we do some fundraising," said Courtney VanLokeren, also a captain on the squad. "But for the most part, everything is paid for out of [our] pockets."
Although they may no longer be considered a sports team, they have all the qualifications. "To be a hockey cheerleader, you have to be able to skate on figure skates," Gaiselhart said. "We go out onto the ice between every period and do a few dances on skates. We also go into the stands and dance on the stairs."
Fans who have the general stereotype of cheerleaders-ones who stand on the sidelines shouting and waving pom-poms-will be surprised when they see this squad. The hockey cheerleaders are not your typical cheerleaders.
"Hockey cheerleading is different than traditional cheerleading because we do more dances than yelling cheers," VanLokeren said. "Some requirements for tryouts are: dance ability, knowledge of cheers, confidence, splits and skating ability." Along with demanding certain skills, being a part of the hockey cheerleading squad requires dedication. VanLokeren said that the squad practices 4-10 hours a week, including ice time at the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center (DECC), and more if there is a series coming up during the next weekend.
This dedication and unique skill makes for a great performance that is exciting to watch, but can make it difficult to get involvement. However, this hasn't stopped the squad from growing more successful. "It's been hard in the past few years to get student involvement, but this season we have one of the largest number of girls, with 14," Gaiselhart said. "And five of those are returning from last year."
Hockey cheerleading isn't very common in college in general. "Only North Dakota, St. Cloud, Mankato, U of M and us have a squad," said Gaiselhart. According to Gaiselhart, the squad's major goal is to promote school spirit and get the crowd involved during all home games. In addition to achieving their goal, the squad also helps out with promotions during the games.
"This year the UMD promotions have gotten us more involved," Gaiselhart said. "We help them with things like the Subway Shoot Out and Chuck a Puck." The Subway Shoot Out is where three fans are selected to come onto the ice and shoot a puck into the net.The squad holds the board that only allows them to have a little slot at the bottom that the puck must go through. Chuck a Puck is where anyone can buy a foam puck for a dollar and throw it on the ice between a period, Geiselhart said. The fans have to get it as close as they can to the five circles that are labeled on on the ice, and the squad's job is to find the puck that got the closest and clean all of them up.
The squad supports the hockey team, but the hockey players seem supportive of the squad as well. "I think the cheerleading squad does a good job at trying to get the fans pumped up," said Nick Kemp, junior right wing for the UMD hockey team. His teammate agrees.
"I don't know much about cheerleading, but it seems they do a good job-it's great they are out there doing their thing to help the cause," said Travis Gawryletz, senior defenseman for the UMD hockey team.
