To build a human pyramid with a group of girls standing on each other’s backs and shoulders takes not only strong, sturdy muscles but trust, loyalty and a strong family bond.
Coming together as a family is critical to the success of Concordia University’s cheer and stunt team, sophomore MacKenzie Feeken said.
“When you’re on the mat and competing against the other team, there’s a lot of eyes on you and a lot of pressure. If you don’t come together as a family, you’re not going to succeed, you aren’t going to work well together.
If you don’t come together as a family, you’re not going to succeed, you aren’t going to work well together.
“In stunt, we’re in direct contact and you have to have that trust and that bond to be able to be thrown in the air and do flips and be caught by your teammates. I think the bond and loyalty we have is unique to Concordia. We’re really, really close friends,” Feeken said.
Stunt is relatively new to Concordia University Irvine. Amy Haney, head cheer and stunt coach, who previously incorporated cheer into the athletics program, started stunt during the 2015-2016 school term.
“We wanted to create another opportunity for young women at the university. We wanted them to have the opportunity to showcase their skills and what they trained for,” she said.
The stunt and cheer team is made up of about 38 girls. Some of the girls participate in traditional cheer, cheering at basketball games and community events. Others do stunt and go to competitions. Some do both.
The stunt season runs from February through April. The stunt team participated in about five competitions last year and anticipates competing in seven to eight this year. Each competition is about one hour long, divided into four quarters: partner stunts, pyramids, jumps and tumbling, and the fourth is a combination of the first three. Each quarter is made up of four rounds, for which judges award points.
Feeken enjoys the adrenaline rush she gets from competing.
I like the pressure and the high energy and really seeing what you can do when there’s a bunch of eyes on you.
“I like the pressure and the high energy and really seeing what you can do when there’s a bunch of eyes on you. I like going up in front of people performing and going before judges doing what I love to do,” Feeken said.
“The whole hour, your energy is so high,” she continued. “When you hit a stunt perfect and you get the point for the round, it’s just the best feeling in the world.”
Feeken said just to be able to do the skill isn’t enough; execution is critical.
“It’s challenging how precise you have to be about everything,” she said. “If there’s one little bobble in a stunt or your feet are apart during tumbling, that could be the difference in you losing that round and the other team getting the point. It comes down to the nitty-gritty to do the skill as perfectly as you can make it.”
Feeken’s most rewarding experience was beating Riverside Community College’s team at USA Nationals last year.
“That was the biggest crowd we had all season, and there were a lot of younger high school level, aspiring college cheerleaders watching us. That was really cool to be an example for them,” she said, adding, “and it was our last game, so it was just a great bonding experience for my whole team.”
Concordia University Irvine recognizes stunt as a sport. Although traditional cheer is not considered an official sport, Haney said, “We’re blessed at Concordia that cheer has always been treated like a sport.”
We’re blessed at Concordia that cheer has always been treated like a sport.
Both Haney and Feeken support making competitive cheer an official sport that is regulated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
“Our cheerleaders are athletes like everyone else,” Haney said.” They train competitively. What they can do strength-wise is in line with other sports. They train as hard as everyone else.”
“It would be really awesome to be recognized everywhere, publicly recognized as well,” Feeken said. “Competing in stunt is a game, just like soccer or volleyball. There’s so much athleticism involved, there’s flexibility and strength and you need agility. There’s lots of tumbling, which tumbling is in the Olympics. That requires a lot of athletic ability, and we’re competing against other people.”
Feeken is looking forward to more adventures as Concordia becomes a NCAA Division II school. Concordia University Irvine is near completing the three-year membership application process to become a member of the NCAA.
“I love Concordia and for us to move up into that new level together, it’s really been a fun ride,” she said. “I’m really excited to see all of the new athletes that are coming in to be part of a Division II school. The school population is growing as we advance in athletics.”
Feeken said, overall, there’s a sense of even greater pride in the air.
Haney agreed becoming a NCAA Division II school brings Concordia University Irvine more notoriety and visibility. She said it gives the university a greater opportunity to share its mission and vision.
“Going through this three-year process of becoming a NCAA Division II school has really helped us with our policies at the university,” Haney said. “It’s raised the level of expectation for our student athletes and overall for our students. It gives our university more of a platform to share what we’re all about as a faith-based institution.”