Santa Ana College Club Set to Cheer This Fall

Members practiced various school related chants and sent girls flying in the air, performing stunts and trusting their teammates to catch them. / Nikki Nelsen / el Don

Cheer Club tryouts have ended and Santa Ana College will have an official cheer squad by the Fall.

The Cheer Club, created this semester by a few ambitious SAC students looking to continue cheering at the junior college level, hosted tryouts May 5 in the school gymnasium.

Thirty people attended the tryouts and showcased their abilities for the club council members in hopes of making the team.

Each person who tried out was given a number to display on their shirts and every girl wore a white or red bows.

Cheer captain Bianca Aguirre, along with two other experienced cheerleaders, evaluated the students cheerleading skills.

“I wish everyone the best and I hope anyone who doesn’t make it does not have hard feelings. I hope they all still choose to be a part of the club because not everyone is ready for the high level stunts, conditioning and commitment needed for varsity members. Some will need next year to get ready for it,” said Aguirre.

Before the official tryouts, cheer council members invited students to prepare and learn cheers, at the clubs tryout clinics.

Members practiced various school related chants and sent girls flying in the air, performing stunts and trusting their teammates to catch them.

Girls who were new to flying learned to keep their balance and distribute their weight properly to make it easier on the cheerleaders catching them.

“At first flying is scary but I just know that my bases are not going to let me fall, and it’s all about being confident,” said liberal arts major Christina Malanga.

Aguirre has an extensive cheer background as a retired Orange High School Cheerleader. She now works for the high school as a coach and is an instructional aid for the Orange Unified School District. She knew she had her work cut out for her and accepted the challenge.

With two toddlers and 12 units of courses, Aguirre needed the Cheer Club to be flexible with her busy schedule. She catered the practices so that it would accommodate many SAC students’ busy lives.

“Transportation, child care and family time are all things that I have to accommodate for, on top of being a full time college student,” Aguirre said.

Aguirre gathered students who shared a common goal and rallied them into a team that promotes school spirit.

With support from the college, members then petitioned and sought out an advisor. After finding three advisors, the club was officially ratified as one of 28 clubs on campus.

The three advisors: physiology professor Rosy Santos, dance professor Rosa Garcia, and psychology professor Matthew Alcala assist in monitoring club activities and practices.

“There are three advisors because it takes a lot of time commitment to be a part of this because the members are practicing six to seven times a week, so we help with guidance but it is mostly student run because they teach the cheers and are working with the students,” says Santos.

Twenty people made the cheer team. The results were posted Sunday on SAC Cheer’s Instagram page. Eighteen girls and 2 boys were featured in the post.

For the remainder of the spring semester and through the summer, the club will continue practicing and fundraising.

Cheerleaders who do not make the team will still have the opportunity to be a part of the club in order to prep for next year’s tryouts. These club members are still are part of the team and will have the opportunity to cheer alongside members that have made the team at sports games and campus events.

Expect to see SAC cheerleaders during the fall semester and semesters to come.

“I think we will have better sports teams now that this school has a cheer team because the support helps the team do better and a cheer team also encourages more people to come out and support our athletes,” said Freshman and aspiring SAC cheerleader Sandy Zendejas.

The club also has created a GoFundMe account with a goal of four thousand dollars. The revenue will go toward club expenses like, uniforms and cheer camp.

To find out more nohow you can help SAC Cheer, click here.