GC’s cheerleading team traveled to Dayton, FL, and competed in the three-day National Cheerleaders Association competition April 11-13. 

The NCA cheerleading competition is one of the largest cheerleading competitions in the world that hosts a wide variety of cheerleading teams from all across the United States, with one of the biggest sections being the collegiate competition. 

In the past, the Bobcats have won three NCA championships for the respective divisions. As of recently, however, the team did not compete in competitions and just did sideline cheerleading for GC’s basketball teams. 

This is the only competition the team competes in each year, and they have a preview showing their routine after the homecoming games conclude. Since this is the only competition the team has, it allows them to perfect their routine before the competition.

“The preparation for college nationals started way back in June,” said Casey Taube, one of the captains of the team. “We practiced throughout the summer, then three times a week in the fall and four times a week in the spring. On top of that, we would come in extra to work and perfect our skills.” 

Last year was the first year that the team competed at the NCA cheerleading competition, as none of the members had ever been. Last year, the team was placed in the Intermediate Small Coed Division for Division II. The team ranked 16th out of 18 with a final score of 83.669. 

Since then, the team has gotten a new coach, Doug Stephens. He has been able to build up the team and teach them many new skills that the former coach could not. Under Coach Stephens, the team has moved divisions. This year, the Bobcats competed in the Advanced Small Coed Division of Division II. 

With this new placement, the team competed against bigger and more advanced teams than they did the year prior. 

“The biggest difference from this year and last year’s competition is the division and location in which we competed,” Taube said. “Last year, we competed indoors, and this year was outside, competing in much harder skills.” 

The competition is divided into small and large groups, depending on the number of male cheerleaders the team has. If the team has four or less male cheerleaders, the team is placed in the small division. Since the Bobcats are limited to two male cheerleaders, they are placed in the advanced small division. 

This season GC was able to “hit zero,” which means that during their final routine, the judging panel gave the team zero deductions for mistakes, such as a stunt falling, safety violations and tumbling mistakes. 

“This year, the team made leaps of improvements,” said Claudia Dick, one of the captains of the team. “We went from having over six points in deductions on day two last year to zero points in deductions this year.”

With no deductions, the team was able to finish with a final result of 84.6333. Since the team was competing in the highest division with tougher competition, they ranked sixth out of the six teams in their division. 

The team is already prepared to start practice in the summer to start preparing for next year’s NCA cheerleading competition that will take place again in April.