You’ve probably seen her on campus, maybe leading the sidelines of a basketball game with pom-poms in her hand or walking around in a black warm up jacket with embroidery on the back. Her name is Mackenzie Woodard and the embroidery on her jacket reveals what organization she’s part of: she’s the captain of the Oswego State Cheerleading team this year.
Woodard, a senior broadcasting/mass communications major, has been part of the cheerleading team since before she even started going to the college. Woodard knew she wanted to be part of a college cheerleading team after receiving her acceptance letter to SUNY Oswego, so she trekked to the college May of her senior year to try out for the team. That tryout completely changed her college experience, Woodard says.
“Coming to college already being part of the team really made me feel like I had a group of people I could always fall back on,” she says. “I had older girls to ask for advice and girls my age coming into the same situation.”
Her early experiences on the team kept her coming back season after season.
“I feel really strongly that if you’re a freshman coming to the school you should try to get involved in any way you can,” she says. “It helps you meet people and having people that share the same interests as you makes it a lot easier to make friends.”
The program has grown since Woodard first became involved. The team now supports both the men’s and women’s basketball teams at all home games, competes at local competitions as well as NCA College Nationals in Daytona Beach, Fl., and is working more within the Oswego community.
“I’ve been apart of the team for four years now and I’m proud to say our program has really grown since I was a freshman. I feel like everyone on the team does it because they love to cheer and they work hard and I hope this season is our best one yet.”
As captain, Woodard leads the team at all practices and home games, but taking on the leadership role was not the reason she decided to run.
“The best part of being the captain is that you get to help people and give them advice and see them grow as individuals, not only as cheerleaders,” she says. “I’ve always liked helping people and being the captain allows me to do it in a different way.”
Woodard has a history of volunteer work. She volunteered with a community service organization in her hometown of Elmira, N.Y., for ten years before coming to school at Oswego State.
“Helping out in the community is really important to me. I was always taught of the importance to give back, so now I hope to pass that on to the girls on the team,” she says.
The team participates in a variety of community service events during the season, annually running in the 10kan run, walking in Take Back the Night and ringing bells for the Salvation Army.
Woodard hopes giving back to the community will help with the cheerleader image, another cause that is important to her.
“Cheerleading is a lot more than yelling on the sidelines of games, it takes a lot of athleticism and dedication,” Woodard says. “That’s part of why I love working for UCA, I get to help change the cheerleading image.”
The Universal Cheerleaders Association is a company that provides educational training for college and high school cheerleading teams. Woodard has worked as an instructor for the company for the past three years and was part of the America Needs Cheerleaders campaign last year.
“The campaign was created to change the stereotypical image of a cheerleader as portrayed by the media,” Woodard explains. “We’re smart, hardworking athletes who also serve as a role model to other people in communities across the United States.”
Woodard hopes that those ideals will carry over to the Oswego State Cheerleading team during her last year.
“I bring a lot of what I learn there to being captain here,” Woodard says. “I hope that our team can change how at least some of the students here view cheerleaders to be.”
Woodard is proud to be graduating in May, having spent four years as part of the Oswego State Cheerleading team.
“It was never something I was going to give up,” she says. “I love cheerleading and I love the camaraderie of the team every year. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”