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The purpose of our program is to promote and foster school spirit in ways that are consistent with upholding and promoting the finest Georgia Tech traditions. This includes leading the crowd at athletic events, participating in pep rallies and other spirit activities, and making various appearances in the Atlanta area.

SQUADS AND ROLES

GOLD SQUAD - Cheers for all football games, men’s basketball games, and all related pep rallies and activities. They have practice 3 days a week in the off-season and are required to work out 3 days a week in the Strength and Conditioning Center. Practices increase to 4 or more days a week during nationals season, but workouts decrease to twice a week.

WHITE SQUAD - Cheers for home football games, women’s basketball games, a few select volleyball games, and all related pep rallies and activities. They practice 3 days a week all year and are also given the opportunity to workout with the Gold squad in the Strength and Conditioning Center.

COMPETITION SQUAD - Competes at the NCA Collegiate National Championships in Daytona Beach, FL during the first week in April. This squad is picked by the coach and is made up of the most talented cheerleaders both from the Gold and White squads as well as any other full time students who choose to try out. For the past 6 years, Georgia Tech Cheerleading has been ranked as a Top 10 Division 1A cheerleading program.

TRYOUTS

NOTE: All students (incoming freshman, upper classman, and transfer students) are welcome to tryout for either squad. There is no height or weight requirement for males or females to tryout.

GOLD SQUAD - Tryouts for the 2004-2005 squad will be held April 22-24, 2003 in the O’Keefe Gymnasium (see directions at bottom). The instructional clinic will be the 22^nd & 23^rd and the official tryout will be held on Saturday April 24^th. The tentatively scheduled times are as follows:

On the official tryout day, guys are required to wear a white shirt and navy blue shorts. They must also be clean-shaven and wear no jewelry. Girls are required to wear a gray or navy sports bra and navy blue shorts, with their hair half up/half down. Bows are optional and any type of jewelry is prohibited. We ask that no one wear anything that says “Georgia Tech Cheerleading”. A simple “Georgia Tech” is acceptable.

Our instructional clinic provides each participant with time to practice what is required for tryouts. Time will be devoted to standing tumbling, running tumbling, jumping, and stunting. We do not allow you to bring your own partner for tryouts. You must use someone else who is also trying out. There is a limit of 3 partners per person trying out, unless otherwise stated by the coach. It is therefore essential to find someone to stunt with your first day of clinic and to reserve that person for the day of tryouts.

Insurance Cards are required for the first night of clinic. If you are a transfer student or an incoming freshman, you must also bring a copy of your official acceptance letter for us to keep on file.

WHITE SQUAD - Tryouts for the 2004-2005 squad will be held August 28^th and 29^th. It will be a 2- day tryout with a stunt clinic on Saturday the 28^th. This tryout is run the same as the Gold Squad tryout, however, required skills are less advanced.

Girls	Guys
Katie Aloisio	Eugene Fernandez
Francine Acevedo	Cody Freeman
Nikki Piver	John Gortney
Shelly Piver	Josh Hand
Kellie Saylor	Tommy Levengood
Tine Sweeder	David Neaton
*Nancy Dolgetta	Michael Reno
*Brittany Gordon	Josh Wilson
*Christin Hubbard
*Lauren Miller

Those student/athletes with asterisks preceding their names will assume an "alternate-like" position. Eight couples (8 girls / 8 guys) will cheer each game. Therefore from the four alternate-like positions assigned, two will be chosen weekly to cheer the upcoming game - depending upon required skills attained that week.

Standing Tumbling - Standing tuck, back handspring back tuck, toe touch back tuck

Stunts - Toss Awesome, Toss Stretch Double Down, Toss Back Flexibility
(Scale or Scorpion) Double Down. At least one of these should be
a rewind or full up.

Standing Tumbling - Standing back handspring or standing back tuck

TRAVELING

GOLD SQUAD - Travels with the football team to the flying away games. We are, however, limited to travel only 3 or 4 couples depending on the location of the game. We stay in the team hotel and are each provided per diem money to cover food expenses. If it’s not a flying away game, then we bus with the band and can travel full squad (8 couples). For both the Bowl Game and the Men’s ACC Tournament, we bus with the band and arrive several days early to perform and appear at the Georgia Tech pep-rally events.

WHITE SQUAD - Travels with the band to the Women’s ACC Tournament. They are also provided per diem and arrive a few days early as well.

NOTE: If a cheerleader misses any class for a legitimate sporting event, the Director of Academics in the Athletic Association provides them with an excuse letter that requires professor’s to give these students the proper make- up work with no repercussions.

FINANCIAL AID

Although the Georgia Tech Athletic Association does not offer full financial aid for the cheerleaders, they do offer 4 other options of aiding these students.

Starting August 2002, the 16 gold squad cheerleaders receive a book scholarship check every semester. They are evaluated at the end of the first semester on grades, performance, and attitude in order to receive the same amount for the second semester.

The 16 gold squad cheerleaders also receive a “meal scholarship”. This consists of two meals a day that can be used for breakfast lunch and dinner (free of charge) in the Athletic Association’s dining hall for the entire school year.

Also, we are currently raising money to fund our most recent attempt at a scholarship. Known as the Leanna Piver Memorial Scholarship, it was named for a former cheerleader who was tragically killed in a car accident November 1997. The funds are constantly increasing, however, we still haven’t reached our goal of $250,000. Raising this amount of money would endow the scholarship, thus making it possible for each varsity cheerleader to greatly benefit from the fund-raising efforts.

Most of the in-state team members receive the Hope Scholarship. This scholarship provides enough money for the students to be enrolled in school for 4 years. You are evaluated after every 45 credit hours and must maintain a 3.0 grade point average to keep the scholarship.

FUNDING

The cheerleading program is partially funded by the Athletic Department. Gold Squad cheerleaders receive all camp clothes, warm-ups, shoes, uniforms and accessories, and travel bags free of charge. The White Squad receives their shoes and camp T-shirts free but have to pay a reduced fee for anything extra. The Athletic Department also fully funds our trip to Nationals.

FUNDRAISING

In 2002, we decided to take on a new fundraising project. We created a 16-month “Spirit Calendar” which contained pictures of the Gold Squad cheerleading squad and BUZZ at various Atlanta landmarks. We sold them at every GT game and event.

This year, we’re considering hosting cheer, stunt, and/or tumble clinics for those cheerleaders interested in cheering in college as well as those younger cheerleaders that are looking to learn more. We will work with our Marketing Department in hopes of contacting all middle and high schools in the metro Atlanta and surrounding areas.

Future plans include possibly hosting a competition in order to provide some tuition scholarship money for our athletes.

SERVICES

At Georgia Tech, cheerleading is considered a sport. Therefore, based on the coach’s criteria, you are entitled to earn a “Varsity Letter Jacket”. Each cheerleader also has access to the following services provided by the Athletic Association:

The Georgia Tech Athletic Association provides its athletes with access to the Sports Nutrition Center. We have a full time sports dietician who provides counseling, supplements, programs, body fat testing, blood work, and maintains the protein shake bar as well as the food served in the Athletic dining hall. There are only 7 full time Division 1A Sports Dieticians in the United States and we are extremely lucky to have one here at GT.

The cheerleaders are also assigned to a Strength and Conditioning Coach who facilitates all their workouts. He creates personalized workouts for each cheerleader based on their own strength and body size. The head Cheerleading Coach and Strength Coach work hand in hand to develop the best possible workouts for the team.

As student-athletes, the squads also have their own Academic Advisor along with their regular Major Advisor. The Academic Advisor’s role is to make sure our students maintain passing grades and carry enough credit hours to participate (undergraduate requires 12 and graduate requires 9). He is also there to help them with priority registration (extra benefit), and to act as liaison between the student-athletes and their professors. The Academic Center, which is open from 7am-11pm, provides student-athletes with a full size computer lab, free tutoring sessions for all classes, extra study sessions given by the teaching assistants, and plenty of small, private study rooms.

The cheerleading squads also have access to the Life-Skills Center, which helps students find co-op jobs, internships, part time and full time jobs. They offer a mandatory class for all incoming freshman Gold Squad athletes that meets once a week to help familiarize those students with life in college and in college athletics. A few topics discussed are interviewing, resume’ writing, underage drinking, and NCAA banned substances.

Because cheerleading is a sport at Georgia Tech, we are also provided with a Head Athletic Trainer and a Student Athletic Trainer. The student trainer is at every practice or game. The Head Trainer is located in the training room and can be contacted at a moment’s notice in case of an emergency. The cheerleaders are entitled to free treatments, doctors appointments with the full-time team physician, eye exams including sight tests and corrective lenses, access to the physical therapy and rehabilitation center, and can set up appointments to see the team Orthopedic Surgeon if referred by the team physician.

IN CLOSING

Thanks again for your interest in Georgia Tech Cheerleading. We hope that by reading this packet, you have learned more about our program. We strive for success not only in cheerleading, but in providing the best college education you could ask for.

If you have any further questions or are interested in guidance to Admission to Georgia Tech, please contact Mindy Whire at (404) 385-0403 or mwhire@at.gtaa.gatech.edu.

*Georgia Tech also provides the following professional areas of preparation:
Premedical, Pre-dental, Pre-law, and Pre-veterinary

Take I-75 South (or I-85 South) to exit 250 (Techwood Drive, 10^th and 14^th St). Pass through your first set of lights, and turn right onto 10^th Street at your second set of lights. At the first light, take a left onto Fowler Street. Take your second left onto 6^th Street. The O’Keefe Gymnasium parking lot is at the very end of the street on your left.

Take I-75/85 North to exit 250 (10^th and 14^th St., Ga. Tech). Turn left at the light onto 10^th St. Take a left at the second light onto Fowler Street. Take your second left onto 6^th Street. The O’Keefe Gymnasium parking lot is at the very end of the street on your left.

Take I-20 West to 75/85 North via exit 57. Take exit 250 (10^th and 14^th St., Ga. Tech). Turn left at the light onto 10^th St. Take a left at the second light onto Fowler Street. Take your second left onto 6^th Street. The O’Keefe Gymnasium parking lot is at the very end of the street on your left.

Take I-20 East to 75/85 North via exit 57. Take exit 250 (10^th and 14^th St., Ga. Tech). Turn left at the light onto 10^th St. Take a left at the second light onto Fowler Street. Take your second left onto 6^th Street. The O’Keefe Gymnasium parking lot is at the very end of the street on your left.

SQUADS AND ROLES