{"id":8677,"date":"2021-08-10T16:11:05","date_gmt":"2021-08-10T20:11:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/?p=8677"},"modified":"2021-08-12T10:53:26","modified_gmt":"2021-08-12T14:53:26","slug":"one-more-time-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/2021\/08\/10\/one-more-time-2\/","title":{"rendered":"One More Time"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Georgia Southern Cheerleaders Win Seventh National Title<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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It\u2019s been said that winning is a tradition at Georgia Southern University. As the 2021 National Cheerleaders Association reigning national champions, the Georgia Southern cheerleading program has a knack for keeping that tradition alive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since 2008, the cheerleading program has won seven national titles. The program\u2019s coed team holds one national title, and the all-girl team holds six, including the 2021 Intermediate All-Girl Division IA title.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So what does it take to produce a national championship-winning team?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Barry Munkasy, Ph.D., head coach of the cheer program and associate professor of kinesiology at the University, the best thing is to trust the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a process, and that process starts in August and it lasts nine months,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t know exactly what I do that makes it work, but for me it\u2019s the process of teaching them and motivating them to cheer over the nine months that leads to their ability to perform at the national championships.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, 2008 was the first year that Munkasy led the cheer program to the National Cheerleaders Association\u2019s national collegiate competition in Daytona Beach, Florida, and the first time the all-girl team won a national title.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe first championship was a complete and utter surprise,\u201d he said. \u201cWe just went and did our best, and when our best was good enough, it was elation, but it was a lot of surprise, too.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jessica Curran (\u201909, \u201911), who was captain of the first championship-winning, all-girl cheer team, still remembers the sense of pride she felt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBringing home a national championship to your school is always something to be extremely proud of, but being the first team to do so, it absolutely gave me a sense of pride,\u201d said Curran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am very proud to say that I am part of a winning legacy and tradition at Georgia Southern University. Traditions are something that the University takes pride in, and I can confidently say that the cheerleading program has a winning tradition.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To keep that tradition alive and to compete at such a high level requires mental and physical toughness, Munkasy said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt’s a grind and it takes a lot of work to get through everything that you have to go through over the nine months or so,\u201d he said. \u201cThat process makes you mentally tough. At football games, they perform material that is relatively difficult, and they’re required to do it perfectly. And so that process of requiring perfection, even during the football season, plays a role in what they do at nationals.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also tries to establish a team-oriented mindset in members of both the coed and all-girl teams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou have to know that what you\u2019re doing isn\u2019t just for you,\u201d said Jaedah Wheeler, civil engineering graduate student and all-girl cheerleader. \u201cYou always have to be in the mindset to be better than you were yesterday, and I have to make sure I\u2019m not the one who is holding my team back because I am not in shape or can\u2019t perform a skill.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While helping these athletes on skill and technique, Munkasy finds reward in mentoring students in their adult life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI really feel like this is my opportunity to have a major impact on the students at the University on a day-to-day personal basis,\u201d he said. \u201cAs a professor, you provide them with the material that they need to know, but you don’t often get to know them at a much stronger level. So with coaching, I get to see these people come in as freshmen and try to help them to become adults from a social and an athletic perspective. I enjoy seeing them become adults and graduate and be successful after they graduate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Katherine Wagner, a marketing major and captain of the 2020-21 all-girl cheer team, has found structure and leadership opportunities through the cheer program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCheer helps build character and hard work ethic, especially knowing that it\u2019s never really about just one person,\u201d she said. \u201cYou have to do your job to the best of your ability and trust that other people will do their job to the best of their ability.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course national champions face their fair share of challenges as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere were definitely hardships,\u201d Wagner said. \u201cIt\u2019s never easy having to listen to all the different opinions and ways things could be done better. But at the end of the day, when everything does come together and your teammates figure out why you did things the way you did and they appreciate them, it just makes everything all that much more rewarding.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Being a cheerleader at Georgia Southern requires students to balance academics, 20 hours of practice per week, game attendance, work and social life. Because the cheer program isn\u2019t an NCAA sport and not fully funded by the University, the cheerleaders are also responsible for fundraising during the year through various events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no guarantee in any particular year that we\u2019re going to be able to compete,\u201d Munkasy said. \u201cIt\u2019s all based on the fundraising they do and the support that the community and alumni give us. A lot of people think cheerleaders are on scholarships, but they are not.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a coach, Munkasy said time management, injuries and communication are standard challenges year to year. But coaching a team of national champions during a pandemic was a special task.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey really had to focus on their personal health and their personal practices, and that made our practices and our work very difficult,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Quarantine requirements, weekly testing and cheering from the stands at athletics events instead of on the sideline where many skills are practiced in preparation for nationals were unique trials in the process of preparing for nationals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most challenging of all, though, was when a teammate tested positive for COVID-19 a few weeks before nationals, resulting in a large quarantine and a loss of two weeks of practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat was really devastating to us, so going into the competition we were just hoping for the best,\u201d Wheeler said. To the team’s surprise, the challenges quickly faded upon resuming practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don’t know what happened the week before nationals, but our team meshed and we became essentially a dream team overnight,\u201d Wheeler said. \u201cWe all communicated better, there were no big problems and it was the best team experience. I\u2019ve been on plenty of teams but we have never had that type of chemistry before.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey had never performed that routine that well until that day,\u201d Munkasy added. \u201cThey peaked at the right moment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added that a third place finish for the coed squad in the Intermediate Large Coed Division IA category was just as remarkable because four of the male team members had only been cheering since January when the team competed in April.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat is a tremendous accomplishment for both teams,\u201d Munkasy said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014 Crissie Elrick Bath<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n


Georgia Southern Dance Team makes team history by performing in finals at national competition<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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In an unprecedented year, the Georgia Southern Dance Team made history in April when they performed in the Jazz Division 1A finals at the National Dance Alliance Collegiate Nationals competition in Daytona Beach, Florida. While the team was established in 1990 and has performed in the Division 1A Jazz competition since 2015, this was their first time performing in the finals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to working through a global pandemic, the team experienced a shift in leadership this year. Head coach Stephanie Viness had to step back while on maternity leave, and the team\u2019s new assistant coach, Rebekah Macker, stepped up to lead the team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI have been the coach for the last three years, but I wanted the team to have a consistent face this year,\u201d Viness said. \u201cRebekah had not been on the team prior, but she did a great job.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From changing routines to practicing in shifts, the team withstood and thrived through challenges. Remembering their nationals performance brought Macker to tears.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was electrifying,\u201d Macker said. \u201cWhen they were about to go on stage, their intensity, their focus and their strength, it was almost palpable. I was extremely proud of them. They worked hard and knowing that they had the opportunity to perform at finals lit the fire more.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Emma Vickers, third-year member and team marketing director, the experience of performing in the finals was incomparable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I was grateful to be able to compete this year,\u201d Vickers said. \u201cI will never forget the feeling of representing Georgia Southern at nationals with my best friends and teammates.” \u2014<\/em> Kaitlin <\/em>Anderson<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s been said that winning is a tradition at Georgia Southern University. As the 2021 National Cheerleaders Association reigning national champions, the Georgia Southern cheerleading program has a knack for keeping that tradition alive.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":8766,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[66],"class_list":["post-8677","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-athletics","tag-summer-2021"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8677","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8677"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8677\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8766"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8677"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8677"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8677"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}