This week I had the pleasure of grabbing a pumpkin spice latte and chatting about the upcoming basketball season with senior cheerleader Kim Nichols! Drinking tea and bundled up in an adorable oversized fall sweater, it was so easy to catch up with Kim and get the inside scoop on SJU’s school spirit. You can always look down onto the basketball court during a game and see Kim’s peppy personality pumping up the crowd and cheering on the team.
HC: How is your senior year going so far?
KN: It’s going pretty well, I feel the pressure of my heavy course load but it isn’t anything I can’t handle!
HC: How long have you been cheering?
KN: I have been cheering since I was about 4 years old, so about 17 years.
HC: That’s a long time! So this is your fourth and final year on the cheer team here, which means you have to lead the team. How is the cheer team looking so far?
KN: We are looking pretty good! There are a lot of new faces on the team. We had a lot of talented freshmen come into the program to compliment the experienced upperclassmen, so we are really excited to see how things continue to progress.
HC: Tell me a little about your team members and personalities. How do you all manage to get along with so many different personalities?
KN: Well our program is the largest it has ever been so it’s definitely been a challenge getting to know everyone and what kind of personalities they have. At the same time, I think we all mesh well together because we are not afraid to be our crazy selves from the get go. The upperclassmen have really shown the newer team members that it’s okay to be a little crazy and weird, just be you.
HC: I know the cheer team competes both competitively and cheers at basketball games. Which do you prefer and why?
KN: I love both aspects. Before SJU I only cheered football season and competitively on an all-star team, but the atmosphere of basketball games here are amazing. I love competition because we can truly show what our skills are on the mat. We are limited to what skills we can do at basketball games because of the hardwood floors. There are things I really like about each, and either way, I will really miss both when I leave.
HC: How was your last year’s experience at College Nationals in Daytona Beach, Florida? What are you going to do to improve this year?
KN: To be honest, last year at Nationals was a disappointment for our entire team. It was a great experience, but we were capable of more than we showed. We had so much talent, and we didn’t capitalize on it down in Daytona. With that being said, we have definitely evaluated the way things are done at practices. Our routine is harder than last year, but we also have a lot more talent to go with the challenge of a harder routine. For the first time, well at least in my four years, our entire competitive team has the minimum tumbling requirement for our division, a back handspring. That alone shows we were strict with what skills made the team. We also changed the structure of practices, and we now work out once a week with a trainer in Hagan. So we are really trying to make sure we go down the Florida thinking, “I’ve done this a million times, and I know I can do it.”
HC: How do you prepare for games and competition?
KN: We have two practices a week about six hours total, not counting workouts. We have a four hour practice that involves a little skills practice for competition, and three hours of going over game day material with the entire team. We learn timeouts, band dances, as well as chants. We have a second practice just for competition that involves a challenging warm up of tumbling and jumps, and then moving through our stunts in our routine.
HC: On average, how much time does cheer practice take up during the week, and how do you balance school and cheer?
KN: Cheer practice is about six hours a week, plus an hour workout mandatory with a trainer. Then we are required to do a second workout on our own as well. So probably about 8 hours give or take. For me it hasn’t just been about school and cheer because I also work and intern, so I’ve been balancing a lot. But it’s really not hard because I use my free time to get schoolwork done, and after Sunday practices, I get ahead on all my work for the week. It’s not too bad once you are used to it.
HC: I’ve heard a lot about STUNT on campus. Can you explain what it is and how it works?
KN: STUNT is a competitive aspect of cheerleading that is moving towards being a NCAA sport. Basically there are four quarters, jumps/tumbling, partner stunts, pyramids/baskets, and routine. There are six routines for each of the first three quarters and four routines for the last. The coach with possession can choose the routine they would like to do. The routines increase in difficulty, as you get closer to routine six. The last quarter is a combination of all three first quarters done continuously. It is done on a nine-panel mat that is divided into four and four with a mat in the middle for the referee. It is judged off of execution, cleanliness, and if we are performing the correct counts. Our team loves it because like the other teams on campus, we can be on our own bench cheering each other on. It’s also really cool that we get to wear jerseys!
HC: How pumped are you for basketball season?
KN: I am so excited! It is my favorite time of the year. The atmosphere in Hagan is always great and it’s awesome to be able to cheer both the Men and Women on!
HC: You were at the men’s game when they became A10 Champs. How was that?
KN: It was an amazing experience! I was able to see the Women’s team win two years ago, so to witness another SJU A10 championship was one of the best experiences I’ve had here. It’s definitely one I will cherish forever.
HC: Is the Holy War your favorite game to cheer?
KN: It depends if it is home or away. Nova fans are very mean to us when we’re at Nova so I absolutely love it when we’re home and have our fans to back us up!
HC: Does it ever get hard to keep up the crowd’s spirit when the home team is losing?
KN: Of course, it’s definitely something that is hard because as cheerleaders we don’t give up on the Men and Women, we believe in them if they’re up by 20 or down by 20. Sometimes it’s hard to keep the fans’ heads up, but we don’t let that deter us from trying to keep everyone excited.
HC: Favorite part of an SJU Basketball game?
KN: I have so many! Three main things: the fight song, the national anthem, and the HAWKS cheer. I absolutely love running the flags behind the hawk to bring the teams out to the fight song. I love when the student section sings the anthem behind us; it makes me feel as though we are huge family coming together to support one another. It gives me the chills! The HAWKS cheer is unique to us, and our fans get so into it, whether they are alumni, current students, or other spectators coming to see a basketball game.
HC: Favorite cheer memory here at SJU?
KN: My current favorite cheer memory is my freshmen year at Nationals when we unexpectedly did better than we could have ever imagined.
HC: What has being a cheerleader here at SJU taught you?
KN: It has taught me to challenge myself and others to be better every day. I think that these past three years I saw too many talented cheerleaders doubt their abilities and all they needed was someone to say, “You got it!” or “You can do it!” I love being that person. I love saying to my team, “Push it ladies, you got it!” because I don’t want anyone to ever regret not giving something their all. I saw it happen, and we have way too much potential to feel that way!
HC: When you’re not cheering, what else do you like to do here at SJU?
KN: I love being with my friends, catching up through lunch dates or Starbucks. I love the gym to run and lift; it’s a huge stress reliever for me. In fact, I absolutely love lifting, it’s another way I challenge my own abilities!
A HUGE thanks you to Kim Nichols for sitting down and chatting with me about cheerleading, basketball, and her experiences. Make sure to look for this week’s campus cutie cheering on both the men and women’s basketball teams this upcoming season! Come meet the basketball players and cheerleaders and check out how the teams are looking on October 17th in Hagan at the annual Hawk Hysteria at 7:30 PM. Catch you all there!
HCXO,
Alex