Tryout Information:

The tryouts will be held starting at 9 a.m. Saturday at Daniel-Meyer Coliseum.

To tryout, students must:

• be currently enrolled in the University with 12 credit hours
• show an acceptance letter as an incoming freshman
• maintain a 2.0 GPA
• be in good standing with the university
• have health and hospitalization insurance
• be in good physical condition
• be willing to make a one-year contractual commitment to the program

Record turnout at tryouts
Cheerleaders vie for spots on squad

By Alisha Brown
Staff Reporter

Sixty-eight potential TCU cheerleaders stretched and tumbled trying to shake their nerves before the cheerleading clinic at Daniel-Meyer Coliseum Wednesday.

Changes in dates, rules and funding led to a record turnout for the tryouts, cheerleading coach Jeff Tucker said. Last year only 42 people were in attendance.

“We have about 60 (women) here (Wednesday) and eight guys,” Tucker said. “And we’ll still have people show up the day of the tryouts.”

Holding the tryouts over a three-day weekend allowed for a greater number of participants to travel to tryouts, Tucker said.

“I’ve got some families who are here from out of town and out of state,” he said. “They made it a family trip.”

Kathy Sharp from Austin was at the tryouts to see her daughter, a transfer student from Texas Tech University.

“They’re out of school already which gives them time to get on their studies when they get back,” she said.

“And this way parents can be there as well.”

Jill Jaeger came from Arlington to watch the first night when participants, including her daughter, were learning choreography.

“When you’re daughter’s in something, you don’t miss it,” she said.

Fifty percent of the students trying out are incoming freshmen, Tucker said.

“Most of these (women) have never been on our campus for a TCU Monday or any other event,” he said.

This is the first year freshmen have been able to try out for both the co-ed and all-female squads, Tucker said.

“Allowing for that this year helps keep the (cheerleaders) active so they do not lose their skills,” he said.

“They’re away from home for the first time trying to deal with academia, a social life and everything else.”

The cheerleading department has also attracted women through their work to establish an endowment.

Tucker said he hopes to create a $500,000 endowment for scholarships and other funding.

“The fact that we haven’t had it has turned back people,” he said. “I’ve got a lot of people who are competitors and have been on competitive independent squads, and because we don’t offer scholarships they said sorry, they’re not going to try out.”

Tucker said academic advancement is working aggressively with his department to secure the funding for the endowment.

“Having it legitimizes your program,” he said. “It gives these kids something that they earnestly deserve.”

Alisha Brown
a.k.brown2@student.tcu.edu