The Claremont Colleges Cheer Team is taking school spirit to new heights. As co-founders Regan Cooper PO ’29 and Adelina Grotenhuis PO ’28 work to establish the 5C-wide team from the ground up, they’re striving to fill a gap in athletic culture on campus and build a stronger sense of community across the consortium.
Having started the team last fall, Cooper and Grotenhuis saw an opportunity to not only keep cheer in their own lives, but also to support 5C athletes and bring renewed energy to games and events. With more than 20 years of cheer experience between the two co-heads, they bring expert leadership to the squad.
“I’ve been doing cheer for most of my life, and it’s something I wanted to continue throughout my college experience …” Cooper said. She noted that, as a 5C legacy, she also always wanted to attend college in Claremont. “I knew that I didn’t want those two things to be independent of each other.”
Founding the team wasn’t without growing pains, and several administrative obstacles made it difficult for Cooper and Grotenhuis to realize their vision at first.
“I began to talk to some administration before I got to campus the year prior, and I was hoping it was something that I could start start off before I got to campus, but just because of paperwork and the regulations that they have in place, we weren’t even able to start hosting practices until second semester,” Cooper said.
Getting off the ground was the first hurdle. Now, entering its second year, the club’s biggest challenge has been keeping members engaged on a limited budget.
“Right now, we don’t have much funding for uniforms, so we’ve been fundraising,” Cooper said. “We have a GoFundMe, and that’s been really slow to start. I think advertising a cheer team and then not having uniforms, but still requiring people to come every day to practice, is probably the hardest thing.”
However, the co-founders have not let these challenges hinder their progress. They have been working consistently towards their goals, and the team is finally gaining traction.
“Last year, we had about 15 total members, and we held practices weekly,” Cooper said. “But then during those practices, we would only get between three, three to five, maybe six people at once … I think we really improved this year. We have turned into a co-ed club, so we have about 25 consistent members.”
As the team continues to grow, members such as Anthony Bonet HM ’29 have re-evaluated how they prepare. As the base for the team’s first co-ed cheer duo, Bonet is working to ensure that he is ready for all that the job entails.
“I’ve learned that preparation and application are two entirely different things,” Bonet wrote in email correspondence with TSL. “I knew at the beginning of the summer that I was going to join the cheerleading team once I learned about them through the 5C club portal, so this summer I changed my workout routine to ensure that I would have the strength and endurance to actually throw a human in the air.”
As the team gears up for more public appearances, Cooper and Grotenhuis have also learned what it means to lead their own team.
“Something about being a leader is that you have to trust yourself and trust your instincts and make decisions even when there’s uncertainty, which I think is something that Reagan and I have done a lot with this team, and I think it’s worked out really well,” Grotenhuis said.
The Claremont Colleges Cheer Team has performed in various events this semester, including their first Claremont-Mudd-Scripps football game, Pomona College’s The Originals Festival and CMC’s 50 Years of co-education event, where they led a parade. The club has already received positive feedback from the community as a result of their appearances across campus this year.
“The parade was super impactful, and we got so many great, just so many compliments, and a lot of alumni that were saying how much they could feel our impact on campus,” Cooper said.
As the team increases their public presence, members like Elizabeth Marr SC ’28 are excited to continue welcoming new members, regardless of previous experience.
“Really everyone and anyone is included, no matter what,” Marr said. “We’re all learning and we’re all new to this cheer team. We have people who have never stepped on a cheer mat, and we have some people who have a lot of experience with cheer but are super excited about sharing it with people who want to get better.”
Looking ahead, the 5C cheer team is ready to continue building on their strengths and increasing the presence of cheer at the Claremont Colleges.
“It’s very heartwarming to see that what we’ve been doing wasn’t all for nothing,” Cooper said. “I definitely am very proud of the work that we’ve been doing.”
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