The Nicholls cheerleading squad decided to take the Spring 2004 semester off to rebuild its program after experiencing a lack of cheerleaders to cheer during sporting events such as men and women’s basketball games.At the end of the Fall 2003 semester, the cheerleading squad consisted of only three cheerleaders and no head coach.

Bobby Galinsky, men’s sports information director and cheerleading adviser, said the decision to cancel the cheerleaders’ performance this semester was based on the shortage of cheerleaders.

“We ended up having only two cheerleaders left on the team, and just two cheerleaders just did not look good,” Galinsky said. “We knew the dance team and the band was going to be there, and that was enough. So we said let’s save money for this year and save it for next year.”

Junior cheerleader and co-captain, Jenny Matherne, said the main reason the cheerleaders are not in attendance at basketball games this semester is because there are no cheerleaders to cheer. Matherne and sophomore cheerleader, Krystal Boudreaux, were the only two who did not quit before the semester.

“We don’t have a squad pretty much for the semester,” Matherne said. “Certain people have quit because of work, and other people got kicked off; they did not have time to cheer.”

Boudreaux said she is disappointed that there is no cheerleading squad to cheer at basketball games this semester.

“I really miss it because it is not fair because we cheered for the football team, but can’t cheer for the basketball teams,” Boudreaux said. “I think that is unfair for the men and women’s basketball teams.”

Former cheerleading coach, Bridget Boudreaux, quit at the end of last semester due to time availability. After a meeting with the cheerleaders on Feb. 10, Galinsky said the squad decided to not have a coach for next semester.

“A coach costs so much money,” Galinsky said. “Moneywise, we decided it would be better to not go with a coach this year and just go with the captain and co-captain.”

“She got so busy at the end of the year she decided she couldn’t come back. She was a great coach and did an outstanding job with the squad.”

Starting July 2003, the cheerleading squad moved from a student organization in student life to being sponsored by the athletics department.

The cheerleaders are allotted 50 cents from student-assessed fees every semester. This money pays for the cheerleader uniforms, shoes, cheering poms, food and travel expenses.

“They don’t make much money. A lot of people do not realize the only money they get are from student fees,” Galinsky said. “When you get 50 cents out of 7,000 students, that is $3,500. All that money comes from that account, and what they don’t get, they have to go out and raise.”

Each cheerleader also gets $100 each semester for their scholarship when they start, and another $100 increase every semester the cheerleaders are on the squad.

At other state universities, such as McNeese and Northwestern State, cheerleaders receive $500 per semester for scholarships. At McNeese, a basic first year squad member receives $500 with the scholarship escalating about $75 extra per year of service.

“It’s really not that much. At other schools, cheerleaders get academic scholarships, but we just don’t have that kind of money,” Galinsky said.

Matherne said the lack of money prevented them from going to camp this season. She also said the other cheerleaders are planning to go to SGA meetings to ask about an increase in their allotment.

“I’ve gone to meetings and tried to say we are a big part of campus, and we do a lot of events,” Matherne said.

Galinsky said the rumors that circulated around campus that the cheerleaders were bankrupt and had no way to pay expenses were untrue. He said the cheerleaders never had a negative account, but had two outstanding bills from fund raising events in which the cheerleaders sold calendars and cookie dough, while being advised by Latoya Bailey. Bailey was dismissed as cheerleading adviser during the Spring 2003 semester.

Galinsky said the money collected from the fundraisers was not paid back until he became advisor.

“When I started as adviser, they were in financial trouble,” Galinsky said. “I had no idea what happened to the money (from the fundraisers). Some cheerleaders gave Latoya the money, and the money just disappeared and was never paid.”

Galinsky said the two bills were paid for by the University Internal Auditor, Sharon Daigle, and that all bills are paid.

“All bills are paid for, so everything is even steven. You have to commend them (the internal auditor) because they took charge and paid for it,” Galinsky said.

Galinsky said the cheerleaders are starting to plan for the future. At the Feb. 10 meeting, they selected Leslie Chaisson as captain and Matherne as co-captain. Galinsky said freshman cheerleader Melanie Clement, Boudreaux, sophomore Carrie Spearman and freshman Thad Lebouef all plan to return to the squad next year.

During orientation for freshmen on April 6 and 7, the cheerleaders will have an information booth for interested students. Open tryouts for new cheerleaders will be held April 30 and May 1.