Cheerleading has always seemed weird to me. Your purpose is to showcase athleticism — stunts, tumbling, pom poms and self-esteem issues. But at the same time, your whole job is to support another team, to rally the crowd around them. If you’re a traditional cheerleader, you’re the center of attention. But if you’re the center of attention, are you really doing your job?
Union University’s cheer team doesn’t fit the mold of what most people picture when they hear the word “cheerleader.” There are no dramatic stunts, no high-flying flips and no competitions. And yet, this small, humble squad might be the truest example of what cheerleading was meant to be.
I know a lot of these girls personally. They aren’t the stereotypical cheer clique you see in movies — the exclusive group of girls that everyone either envies or avoids. They are some of the most encouraging, uplifting girls I’ve ever met. They celebrate each other, support their school and truly embody what it means to cheer someone on. And isn’t that the whole point?
Maddie Wooten, a sophomore elementary education major, described it this way:
“We might not do the biggest stunts or look the cleanest, but it’s like a second family. In high school, it was all drama, all competition. Here, it’s about something bigger than us,” Wooten said.
Wooten’s perspective is particularly interesting because she has experienced both sides. She cheered in high school with a competitive team that practiced multiple times a week, prioritizing skill above all else. At Union, everything changed.
“We didn’t get to stunt at all last year,” Wooten said. “It just depends on who’s on the team and what kind of girls we have. Our coach doesn’t mind taking people who have never cheered before because she always sees potential in them. She says you can always teach someone how to dance, but you can’t always teach someone to have a heart for encouragement. Are they more concerned with cheering or with leading?”
That question struck me. In my own life, I know well how easy it is for my encouragement of someone to become less about celebrating them and more about celebrating how good of an encourager I am. Hypocrisy will always steal true joy.
Union’s cheer team is determined to avoid that, and that mindset starts with Coach Jenni Baylor. She understands both worlds. Performing on a highly competitive high school cheer team that placed third in the state, she went on to cheer for Union in college before eventually becoming the coach. Given her background, you might expect her to push for Union’s team to be more like powerhouse programs that prioritize athleticism and spectacle. Instead, she leans into something different.
“The goal has never been to make cheer the center of attention,” Baylor said. “The purpose is to direct attention to the teams we’re cheering for.”
Unlike other schools, Union’s cheerleaders are technically part of the athletics department, but not always considered athletes. They don’t receive scholarships, which means only girls who truly love cheerleading will join. Whether or not they stunt depends entirely on who’s on the team that year. Some girls come in hoping for a more competitive squad, but Baylor holds firm: that is not what this team is about.
That doesn’t mean they go unnoticed. Over the past few years, Baylor and basketball coach Mark Campbell have worked to include the cheerleaders more fully in Union athletics. They have been slowly bridging the gap between their role and the rest of the athletic community. Baylor has hopes for even more inclusion in the future, but she never wants to lose sight of what sets Union’s team apart.
“There’s a reason we do things differently,” Baylor said. “At the end of the day, we’re building something more than just a cheer squad — we’re building a community.”
That community extends far beyond the sidelines. Despite being one of the smallest athletic teams at Union, the cheerleaders consistently log the highest number of service hours of any sports team on campus. They don’t just show up for games, they intentionally seek out how to support their school family.
The result? A group of girls who cheer, not for the spotlight, but because they believe in the athletes they support.
Perhaps Union’s cheer team is unconventional. But in a world that often prioritizes being seen over serving others, maybe that is exactly what makes them true cheerleaders.
“It’s tough not being recognized the same way other athletes are,” Wooten said. “We show up and we support our teams, but we don’t always get the same level of respect. It can be frustrating, but at the end of the day, we know why we’re here. People think cheerleading is about looking good and putting on a show, but at Union, it’s about showing up. We’re here because we love this team, this school and each other. That’s what really matters.”
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