COLUMBIA, Mo. – No game day at Mizzou is complete without good food, great friends and, of course, the men and women in black and gold on the sidelines, cheering the team to victory. When the Mizzou Cheer Squad and Truman the Tiger are not entertaining the crowds at various athletic events, they are preparing for their own version of game day – Cheerleading Nationals.
The National Cheerleaders Association hosts an annual collegiate national competition in Daytona Beach, Fla., with this year's competition occurring April 5 – 9. Mizzou's Cheer Squad received a bid to Nationals based on their successful completion of an NCA summer camp. They will compete in both the Large Coed and the All-Girl divisions in Florida at this year's Nationals.
Truman received a bid to Nationals on Feb. 3 after submitting a qualification video to the judging panel. His video contained a 90-second skit that included crowd involvement, dancing, props and characterizations. He was one of six mascots to qualify through the video qualification round, joining the six mascots who received bids at camp.
During Nationals, Truman will compete on a national stage to bring pride and recognition to Mizzou. He will be judged on his creativity and crowd-leading abilities in addition to his dancing and the props he built in preparation for the event. Truman is no stranger to the competition having won this very same competition in 2014.
Success at Nationals permeates the whole Mizzou spirit program as all squads have placed in the top 10 every year for the past 15 years under the direction of Head Coach Suzy Thompson. In 2016, the squad competed in the Small Coed and the Intermediate Coed division, placing sixth in both categories.
The Mizzou cheerleaders put in an enormous amount of work to prepare for Nationals. They typically practice three times a week for at least three hours per session, in addition to their game and myriad public appearance responsibilities. From strength training and workouts to extra practices over spring break, Thompson says the team gives 110 percent to represent Mizzou in a competition against the best cheerleading teams in the nation.
"These kids are amazing athletes and put in a tremendous amount of time," said Thompson. "Going to Nationals is their time to have people cheering for them. It is a huge amount of extra work and effort, but when they qualify and are out there representing Mizzou, that is their reward."
Thompson said that Mizzou fans who want to see a preview of the team's routines (including Truman's routine) can come to a Friends and Family Showing on Monday, April 3rd at Mizzou Arena on the main floor. The routines start up at 6 p.m., and everyone is welcome. Once the routines are finished, the teams pack up their gear and load the buses to head to Florida for NCA Nationals.
Supporting their team at athletic events is just a small part of what Mizzou Cheerleading is all about. Nationals is the spirit squad's time to shine, a place where all the attention is on the talents and skills of a hard-working group of collegiate cheerleaders.
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