BALTIMORE, Md. – The Morgan State competitive cheer team will head to Daytona Beach, Fla. to compete in the National Cheerleading Association's (NCA) collegiate nationals competition at the largest College Cheer and Dance Championship in the world. The competition is scheduled to begin on Thursday, April 8th and will conclude on Sunday, April 12th.
Almost 5,000 student athletes and 15,000 supporters and spectators convene each year for this spectacular competition of technical skills, breathtaking choreography, crowd pleasing showmanship, synchronization, and teamwork. Seven (7) Dance Divisions and eleven (11) Cheer Divisions separate teams by designation of All-Girl or Coed, skill level, university enrollment (Division 1, 1A, or II), Junior College, or International. Championship winners are also awarded for Partner Stunts, Group Stunts, and Mascot at Stunt Fest Mania on Saturday.
Morgan State is scheduled to perform at 8:30 a.m. Thursday, April 9th in the All-Girl Intermediate Division. Their performance time for Friday, April 10th depends on their placing after Thursday's performance. The awards ceremony is scheduled for early Friday evening.
The Cheer Bears will compete against college teams from Sam Houston State, Virginia Commonwealth, West Virginia University, North Carolina State, North Colorado, American, Univ. of Maryland Spirit Team, Florida, Iowa State, Michigan State, Michigan, and North Carolina.
The Cheer Bears are looking to improve upon their third place finish in the All-Girl Intermediate Division in 2008 where they became the first Historically Black College & University (HBCU) to make it to the NCA All-Girls Finals.
“We'll be facing some extremely stiff competition this year,” said MSU head coach Theresa Gibson. “All the other participants are from major universities with freshman classes larger than our entire University population.”
“With the changes we've made in our routine, I feel we're up for the intense challenges we'll be dealing with in Daytona Beach this year. The team is young, yet talented. If they keep their composure and confidence level up they can be top contenders in this competition.”
The first College National Championship was held in Dallas, Texas in 1981. The event was moved to the sunny shores of Daytona Beach in 1996, where it has reigned for 14 years against the beautiful backdrop of the Bandshell stage and coastline sunsets.
The historical background of our company is significant in that our founder, Lawrence R. Herkimer, held the first cheerleader camp in Huntsville, Texas in 1948. From that simple beginning, a global cheer and dance industry developed. Herkimer, known worldwide as "Herkie", patented the pompon, created the Spirit Stick (still the most coveted spirit and sportsmanship award at summer training camps), and founded the first Cheerleader Supply Company in the early 1950's to meet the need for ready-made uniforms, shoes, poms, megaphones etc. for the quickly growing industry.
A crowd favorite of the Championship Awards Ceremony occurs yearly when Herkie takes the stage to personally present the National Championship Trophy to division winners.
NCA and NDA have trained literally millions of cheerleaders and dancers across the U. S. and numerous foreign countries. They continue to lead the way with summer cheer and dance camps from coast to coast with curriculum that includes our #1 focus on safety training, technical skills, leadership, teamwork, personal responsibility, integrity, and the development of all-around athletes who will be leaders of tomorrow.
The National Cheerleaders Association and National Dance Alliance each year administer six National Championships including the NCA All-Star National Championship, NCA Senior and Junior High School National Championship, NDA National Dance Championship, the NDA All-Star National Championship, and the NCA and NDA Collegiate Cheer and Dance Championship in Daytona Beach (the largest college championship in the world). Championships are televised on Fox Sports Net.
