The game is set. SUNY Purchase is down by two points. The crowd of onlookers is becoming anxious and disheartened. Who will keep spirits soaring high? Who will ensure that the athletes remain confident? This is a job for the cheer squad. One of the key elements to the wellbeing of any community, be it one of educational purposes or otherwise, is pride in said community. When it comes to schools of any sort, this pride is present in the form of school spirit, and who better to maintain this sense of spirit in SUNY Purchase than Purchase’s very own cheer squad?

SUNY Purchase has always been a very different school, to the point where, prior to two years ago, a campus based cheer squad was nonexistent; however, a cheer squad is now not only present on the campus but active within the community. This cheer squad encourages athletes to do their best and ensures that crowds never lose heart, in addition to giving back to their community in the form of charity. Every year they fundraise for the Breast Cancer Awareness walk, and in the past they have helped the hunger and homelessness foundation and New York Public Interest and Research Group, otherwise known as NYPIRG, with its hunger and homelessness outreach program. Currently the Purchase cheerleaders are looking into taking part in the Lupus Foundation and Autism Awareness, in addition to establishing a charity of the month. China Duvall, the captain of the cheerleading squad, has said that they put the community first.

As some may know, cheerleading is an intense endeavor both physically and mentally - it is even comparable to gymnastics. China stated there is a great amount of pressure on the cheerleaders to keep a smile on their faces and to continue to cheer, even when the Purchase team may be losing. Despite this physical and mental strain, cheerleading has yet to be considered a sport at SUNY Purchase. The squad started out as a student club, and within their second year, the cheerleaders were promoted to an intramural sports club. This status is considered to be just below the status of a varsity sport. China claimed it is possible that cheerleading will become a sport at Purchase within the next year.

When asked, China Duvall said that cheerleading was a great source of fun and an impressive booster for her self esteem. China herself used to be a very shy young girl, but, through cheerleading, she was able to come out of her shell and become the person that she is today. Despite the great joy cheerleading brings, it is not all fun and games. It can be difficult for the squad members to balance practice time with their schoolwork. China, however, maintains a philosophy with her fellow cheerleaders that school should always come first. Whether it comes to balancing their schedules, or keeping spirits high at basketball games, the SUNY Purchase cheerleaders seem to be doing everything right, and they are well on their way to becoming a sport.