It is a 90-degree Birmingham afternoon. Samford’s let up another touchdown to put a game seemingly out-of-reach and all spirits are down. Fans are realizing a morning spent tailgating on the quad and missing out on their favorite SEC games may have been all-for-naught as the now half-empty stadium could hear a pin drop from despair and disappointment.
Except for the dance and cheer team of course.
“Our main role is like a spirit squad: we’re here to cheer on the Bulldogs. We support them on the field and then we also pump up the crowd,” said Laney Parks.
As a senior member of the dance team, Parks has seen it all. For her freshman year in 2022 Samford went undefeated at home and won a conference championship, creating a much more fun and exciting atmosphere within the stadium.
“I would definitely say that fan engagement is a lot more different whenever we are losing. Fans start yelling at the team instead of cheering them on,” said Parks.
But Parks refuses to let that destroy her spirits. “We’re here for the Bulldogs and we love the Bulldogs,” she said. “We have so much pride for Samford”
Keeping a positive mindset is not easy. Both the dance and cheer squad put pressure on themselves to make fans want to stay — so a fan leaving due to lackluster play on the field hurts.
“I feel like it is kind of indirectly on us because we’re supposed to be also entertaining whenever the team isn’t necessarily doing the best,” Parks said.
Senior cheerleader Millie Williams shares a similar point of view.
“I know that the team can get frustrated at times,” said Williams.
Williams likes to remember what really matters though: “I feel like we’re measured by how the Lord views us.”
Williams also reminds herself of what her time in cheer has given her.
“I get to do this with all my best friends. I live with some of them, and I see them every day, you know, where we spend pretty much every day together, whether that’s practice or workouts or just, you know, like eating lunch together or something,” said Williams.
Both the cheer and dance teams will continue to be bright spots through all of Samford’s games and remember to appreciate that they are at Samford and doing what they love.
“I think it’s just a gift to be able to perform at everything. We get to do a lot of different things; we get to do basketball, we get to do football, we get to do volleyball and we also get to compete,” Parks said.
Sports Editor
