by Catherine Rogers
Staff Writer
Cheerleading returns to Bryan College next semester under the leadership of Coach Janice Perron after a five-year absence from basketball games and pep rallies.
In preparation for the all-girl squad, Perron, a 12-year cheer coaching veteran and former cheer coach of Bluefield College, has made recruiting efforts including attending various cheer company competitions as well as setting up booths at two national cheer competitions. She’s spoken to over forty girls from Hawaii, California, Texas, New Mexico, Georgia, Tennessee and Florida.
Perron is the wife of Exercise and Health Science Instructor David Perron.
Perron also traveled to the Athletic Cheer Championship in Chattanooga to watch and further the recruiting process of a top competition cheerleader. Perron sets her hopes on a roster of about 10 to 15 cheerleaders. So far five girls are close to committing, plus six current Bryan students and two transfers.
Perron stressed that a big obstacle to overcome this first year are stereotypes.
“We’re not ‘Bring It On’ cheerleaders,” she said.
However, don’t be quick to assume that the squad will be long-sleeved, culotte-wearing cheerleaders either. When it comes to uniforms, Perron said that they “need to be modest but not frumpy,” and jokingly added, “we’re going to have on twice as much as the volleyball team.”
As having longer skirts can be dangerous for all the movement going on during cheers, Bryan uniforms will be above the knee, mimicking the classic cheer look.
Perron said that we “need cheerleaders whether [we] know it or not” and spoke of basketball games with empty 30-second time-outs and unenthusiastic crowds.
“Last Wednesday night’s game got really close at the end, and that’s when you want to get the crowd going, but there was no one to do that,” Perron said.
Sophomore Kelsey Williamson, one of the current Bryan students that will cheer, seemed right on track with Peron’s vision.
“We don’t want to be boring,” she said. “We’ll try to keep it interesting and do real stunts and come up with new routines for each game.”
Schools are responsible for providing quality education, but it could also be argued that a successful school instills in its students a feeling of community and develops a sense of pride. This is the vision of Janice Perron.
“I want us to be a help and a support to the whole college, not just the basketball team,” she said.
