Chatham University’s cheer team is wrapping up its first official term as a competitive team, a change that came on the heels of the cheer team absorbing the dance team in the 2024-25 academic year.
Under the direction of new head coach Hayley Butler, the group has been transitioning from operating as a club to a more rigorous athletic program. Athletic Director Leonard Trevino said in a previous interview with the Communiqué that the decision was made with the intention to offer competitive cheer, which he hoped would help with student recruitment.
The program will begin to compete next academic year.
The inaugural year “is going really well,” Butler said, “especially since it’s a development, plan and building season.”
Butler is working with the team’s students to develop their definition for success, which she said is about “responsibility and reliability.”
“Just owning who you are as an athlete and as an individual and showing up as that person, even when you don’t feel fully prepared to do that,” she said, “and then just making sure that you’re there for your teammates, as well, because they’re relying on you and it is a team sport.”
Coach Butler wasn’t the only one who believed it was important for the team to be there for its members.
“We are mostly an outlet for the girls to talk to someone,” Cocheer Captain Elianna Sinkule ‘26 said when asked about her role. “And the girls always feel more comfortable coming to their teammates about things, so we’re kind of the buffer between the rest of the girls and Coach and offering emotional support for them a lot of the time and encouragement.”
This tight-knit bond could also be felt among the new members of the cheer team.
“I feel like everyone has a good amount of voice in the team,” Jada Brunet ‘29 said, still tired from cheer practice. “Coming here I was kinda scared, but everyone on the team was really sweet.”
The change in head coach wasn’t the only difference the cheerleaders noticed upon the switch to becoming a competitive team. Some noted a fundamental change in the cheer program.
“Last year, we were still treated as a club, and I know Coach Hayley came in so she had to do some changes, which I believe were great changes. It’s what we needed to grow as a program and to be treated as a sport and get that competitive team also along in there,” Co-captain Ciera Jimenez ‘26 said.
One of the specific changes Jimenez mentioned was a vigorous workout plan called conditioning, which helps during the weeks when the cheer schedule gets busy. These workouts can be either running laps or doing lunges across the gym and are meant to get the heart rate up.
While not everyone who was on the now-disbanded dance team moved to the cheer team, some who did join from the dance team faced challenges while transferring their skills.
“I’m definitely more used to contemporary dance, which is more fluid,” said Ash Milk ‘28, who moved from the dance team to the cheer team. The type of dance that the team does “is definitely a lot more hitting specific positions at a specific time, doing really quick, sharp movements, which really isn’t something that I’ve done that much before.”
Even with the changes, Milk has said while the counts and positions are different, she is making the adjustments to keep up with the rest of the team.
For anyone who wants to see the competitive cheer team in action, be sure to go to Chatham’s women’s basketball and men’s basketball home games. If students want to get updates on the cheer team, they can follow the team on Instagram @chatham_ cheerleading.
