Gimme a U! Gimme a C! Gimme an S! Gimme a D!
So you thought that
just because we don’t have a football team
we don’t have cheerleaders? Think again. This school year saw
the debut of the UCSD Cheerleading team—the first time the
game cheer squad and the competitive club team were combined. This
new team is part of the intercollegiate athletics system and is sponsored
by Adidas. “By combining the teams, we’ve made ourselves
more than just rah-rah girls at games,” says Kirsten Douglas, ’06,
the team captain.
This new squad of 31
women cheer at various sporting events including men’s water
polo, men and women’s basketball, and women’s volleyball.
In addition, they attend their own competitive events, such as the
United Spirit Association’s Collegiate Nationals, which were
held in February in Las Vegas. Last year, the team finished in third
place but this year it was up against well-sponsored cheerleading
power schools such as USC and Pepperdine; and sad to say, the rah-rah
went kind of blah-blah.
Although the current team didn’t even make it past the preliminary
round, Douglas still feels it was
a good experience for the fledgling cheerleaders. “Our team
pulled together exceptionally well considering the situation,” says
Douglas. “We didn’t even have a coach until December.
Lots of the girls have never cheered before while
others are experienced cheerleaders.”
Now with the first competition behind them, you can see the team
pirouetting, pom-pom-ing and pyramiding at UCSD athletic events
across campus and beyond. 
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