The UGA Club Cheer squad is one of two cheerleading squads at the University of Georgia, but what makes this team different is that they compete at the national level. Reporter Ashlyn Bennett spoke with the team’s junior captain, Erica Price, about their plans to rebuild its program.

“Ever since I have been on this team for the last two years, we were a competition one squad, but this year we got knocked down,” Price says.

Price explains the reason for being knocked down to a competition 2 squad is simply because the squad does not attend enough competitions due to a lack of funding for the program.

This inspired Price to create a personal goal as a captain to motivate her squad to win more competitions and bring more money to the program.

The squad’s biggest event of the season, the National Championship, is coming up April 4th through the 6th. This event is where squads from all over the nation head to Daytona Beach, Florida to compete for the title of National Champions.

Price says the squad has “made a concious decision to come together as a team and work harder, and we have been getting to practice a little earlier and staying a little late.”

Price also has her own way of preparing for Daytona: “I think I do a lot [outside] of practice to prepare us for practice, whether that’s texting people to get them prepared or encouraging them at practice. I just want to make sure that we are always on the ball and ready to go.”

The squad continues to put in late hours at practice during the week from 7 to 9 on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Price explained that every practice will not be perfect; some girls will fall from stunts and people may get injured, but their ultimate goal is to improve as a whole and place at nationals.

The Club Cheer squad will be attending a Showcase at Georgia Tech on March 31st, and then will pack its bags and head to Daytona for nationals in 2 weeks.