School spirit may be hard to come by for those who attend school only to earn a degree and move on to a career, but for students who also want to enjoy college joining a club or athletic team is a great way to get started.
The Citrus Cheer Club is far from lacking in school spirit. In their white, blue and orange uniforms with brightly colored pom-poms, Cheer Club makes sure that the school stays lively.
Cheer makes appearances at Club Rush and Springfest as well as participating in the majority of campus events. Cheer Club members make sure their presence is known. They can be found at the athletic events like home football games and soccer games.
“The club has been going strong for four semesters,” said vice president Kayleen Ponce, 19, “thanks to the club president Daisy Cardoza.”
Cardoza, 20, is in her third year at Citrus College as a social science major.
When Cardoza was a Citrus College freshman, the club had been deactivated. Instead of settling for that, Cardoza pushed to recreate the Citrus Cheer Club.
“At first, it was a little rocky,” Cardoza said. But with the help of several previous members and Cheer adviser Jamie Richmond, secretary of admissions and records, the club was renewed.
Sujae Lopez, professional expert of health science department, is the Fall 2013 advisor for the Cheer Club and was herself a Citrus College cheerleader in 1997.
Lopez said that she has high hopes for the upcoming semester. She wants the club to become more involved in community events, for example parades.
This is something Lopez hopes will be a useful tool in expanding the size of the club.
In order to make the club more diverse in its activities Lopez hopes to get input from each member, “I want to get everyone’s views of what they expect from the [club],” Lopez said.
In the push to draw in more dedicated members, the club has changed the way they run their tryouts.
In the past tryouts had been a 3-day experience. Now, hopeful recruits will join in on the campus festivities with the current club members. The purpose is for returning members to spot the individuals who have the drive to promote school spirit.
Closed rehearsals will be taking place until Nov. 19, after this date rehearsals will be open to new recruits.
The out-of-pocket cost for Cheer Club members ranges from $300-$400. This money pays for the uniform and accessories, such as pom-poms.
Over the course of the semester, members become like family, brought together because of their passion.
“We love cheering our athletic teams on. Being involved in school functions, and being involved in the community is priceless” Cardoza said.
Cheer Club can be seen practicing outside of the Cosmotology building.
The 2013-2014 Cheer Club team line-up was finalized in May, but future cheer members can contact Citruscollegecheer@gmail.com for more information.
