By Clyde Verdin Jr.Sportswriter

The addition of an all-girls team, along with a new adviser, are just some of the changes on the horizon for the cheerleading squad. Tonya Danos will take over the team after the beginning of March. Danos was approached by the athletic department to head the squad due to her background as a cheerleading coach.

Danos was the varsity cheerleading coach at Terrebonne High School for five years and is certified by the American Association of Cheerleading Coaches and Advisers. “I’ve taken training and safety courses, and that’s one of the things athletic programs look for,” Danos said.

Junior Jenny Matherne, who has been on the team for four years, is excited about the upcoming changes to the group. “It was just time for change,” Matherne said. “I have a good feeling that the team is going in the right direction.”

The all-girls squad will be added to the team in the fall, and it is unknown how many members will be on the team. In the meantime, the co-ed squad will be downsized to either five or seven couples. “I think it will give more people an opportunity to be a part of the spirit program at Nicholls,” Danos said. “Students who come from a traditional all-girl high school sometimes don’t have a chance to cheer, and they will have that opportunity here.”

A few weeks ago, the team did something it had not done since its inception: it traveled to an away basketball game. When the Colonels and Lady Colonels basketball teams traveled to play Southeastern, the Colonels cheerleaders also went to cheer for both games.

“We normally don’t cheer at women’s basketball games, but since it was a big away game and we knew this meant a lot to them, we made it a full-day trip and cheered for both,” Matherne said.

She said that only the co-ed team will travel. In the future the co-ed team will raise money to travel with the football and basketball teams more than in the past.

With some collegiate cheerleading teams participating in competitions around the country, competitions are not currently planned for the Nicholls squad. “In years to come, it may be a possibility, but next year, no,” Matherne said. “Plus, it’s hard to enter competitions with only five to seven groups.”

Danos believes that the sky is the limit for the squad and hopes that the team will become a more involved part of the community. “What they want to accomplish is completely up to them as a squad,” Danos said. “I’d like to see them become a bigger part of influencing the positives of the University.”

Matherne, who is a member of the Universal Cheerleading Association, hopes that she and her teammate Brittany Ross, who is also in the UCA, can be role models to younger cheerleaders that may want to attend Nicholls. “When we go out to camps, those kids see us, and hopefully, that says to them that they can do this as well and will want to try out here at Nicholls.