Something to shout about

The North Idaho College cheerleading team has high hopes after sweeping several awards at a Universal Cheerleaders Association summer camp.

During the three-day camp, held at Cheney in August, the teams learned new tricks and honed their skills in preparation for a final competition. But the NIC team suffered an injury while attempting a pyramid stunt, and teammates had to scramble to get ready for the contest.

“We changed everything and still captured first,” said Kristi Lacroix, NIC cheerleading coach.

The team brought home awards for the best sideline, the best cheer and the best camp-taught fight song. The team also was recognized for the most collegiate mascot and a leadership award, given to the team most cheerleaders at camp would want to be on if given the chance.

This year’s team has nine women and nine men. Team members get partial scholarships to NIC and attend all home games for wrestling, volleyball and both men’s and women’s basketball.

Brian Peterson, 20, has been a member of the team for two years and attended cheer camps for the last six years. He said he initially held back high expectations at camp this year. But when each member of the team began to pull together and add something to the whole, the stunts started coming together.

“It was amazing to me,” he said. “We were performing at a level that we just haven’t performed at with NIC. That was a cool experience.”

In addition to the awards, six team members were asked to try out to be UCA instructors in November.

“To be a UCA staff instructor is like being a pro football player,” said Lacroix. “To teach kids to cheer is huge.”

Patricia Enzler, 19, is one of three cheerleaders on the team who is a UCA instructor for high school teams. She started teaching at camps earlier this summer and helped bring home one of the awards by topping the other teams in the basket-toss competition.

Enzler has grown accustomed to her high-flying stunt, performed many times in front of the NIC scoreboard. But she could tell the stunt was award-worthy at the camp competition.

“We all pulled together as a team,” Enzler said. “I think this year is really going to be a good year for us.”

She said the team perfected many of its skills and picked up a few new pyramid transitions and cheerleader tosses. She added she’s confident about the team’s potential this year after the camp recognition.

Camp directors chose trophy winners among the University of Montana, the University of Washington, Simon Fraser University in British Columbia and Bellevue Community College.

“Camp kind of sets the mood for the whole year. If you don’t do well at camp, it kind of hinders you,” Enzler said.

Lacroix said bringing home the awards is like a sports team winning regionals. The team now has its sights set on nationals held each year in Florida. The team received an invitation to the competition and will work to raise funds to attend the event.

She said gaining a foothold in one of the top three spots at nationals could bring attention and respect to NIC for its cheerleading program. It could also attract skilled cheerleaders to the college, much like successful sports teams help attract highly sought-after athletes.

The UCA summer camp is typically held in Salt Lake City, but was held at Eastern Washington University this year. Lacroix said the association requested next year’s camp be held at NIC.

“Frankly, we had our stuff together and we did real well,” she said.