C H E E R L E A D E R 5 70 Cheerleaders Changes Occur in Cheerleading Schedule The 1983-84 school year saw the cheerleading squad take on a new format. The sport of cheering at football and basketball games was divided into two squads of seven girls each. The reason for the two squads was so that each girl could devote more time and spirit to their sport. The 1983 Bison football cheerleaders strove for the most part to boost the morale of the football team and secondly to spark new spirit into the student body. Captain Stacey Green and co-captain Kelly Citty. both of Searcy, Ark.; juniors Karen Jones of Newport, Ark., and Charlotte Bray of Ja y, OK; sophomores Gina Connor of Florence , Ala. , Kelly McKinney of Truman , Ark. , and Gina Ward of Memphis Tenn. , made up the 1983 Bison football cheerleaders. The cheerleaders started practicing one week before school. The 1983 season saw the cheerleaders putting more gymnastics in I their routines. With the starting of shoot the gi rls set up a Bison pep rally to strengthen the relations between the football team, coaches, cheerleaders, and fans. The cheerleaders decorated each player's locker on Fridays, to keep the teams enthusiasm up, as well as hostessing a lot of team parties. At the end of the football season , the girls had a Christmas party with the team. Even though the 1983 football season was not as successfu l as hoped , the studen t body expressed great enthusiasm at every home game. The seven girls fo rmed a close bond between one another as they cheered through sunshine and rain; victory and defeat. The 1983-84 basketball cheerleaders began their first season ever as a seperate squad from the foo tball cheerleaders. The squad's fo rmati on came amidst club pledging which lasted a month rather than the usual one week. The confusion and frustration of pledge took its toll of the squad since the majority of the girl s were freshmen. "Even with the way things happened , I still like the idea of having two squads," said Candy Mimms , "We did not have try-outs until late September and the season began in the middle of November ." Mimms was the only cheerleader that had attended Harding in previous years. After the girls started cheering, things seemed to come together. Mimms, a junior from Dallas, Texas was the squad's captain and sophomore Kim Carpenter of Huntsvi ll e, Ala. was co-cap tain. The other members of the 1983-84 basketball cheerleaders were : Robin Laney of Lynette, Ala. ; Melessa Mall ard of Tupelo , Miss.; Anita - John /. R"dcliff" Coker of Searcy, Ark .; Donda Lewi s of Dothan, Ala. and Kristen Beeson of Jonesboro , Ark. After being together from November until March, the basketball team and their cheerleaders had developed close friendships with one another. The last basketball game marked the end of te first season of split cheerleading squads. All of the girls agreed that the idea of the two sets of cheerleaders was for the best;' it gave more girls the opportunity to participate in cheering. Ii - 'ohn /. RAdcliff"
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NTc5NA==