SFA cheer garners national spotlight

SFA cheerleaders at the NCA National Championships in Daytona, Fla.

After winning their sixth consecutive national championship last month, it's no surprise that the SFA large co-ed cheerleading squad caught the attention of New York author Kate Torgovnick.

Torgovnick, a seasoned journalist, whose work regularly appears in The New York Times and Page Six Magazine, recently published "CHEER!: Three Teams on a Quest for College Cheerleading's Ultimate Prize," a book that documents the year-long odyssey the SFA Lumberjack cheerleaders made during the 2006-07 season to retain college cheerleading's most coveted title — national champions. The book also documents The University of Memphis All-Girl squad and the Southern University Jaguars.

(enlarge photo) Contributed photo (enlarge photo)

"I never really knew much about cheerleading," Torgovnick explained recently in a telephone interview from this year's NCA Collegiate National Championships in Daytona, Fla. "I was kind of out of the whole sports world (in school). I never went to any football games, and I basically thought cheerleading was wearing a short skirt and yelling 'rah,rah,rah,' a lot."

While reporting for the New York-based magazine Jane, Torgovnick came across a study that established that cheerleading injuries were on the rise, and was instantly intrigued.

"I thought, 'How does someone get injured waving their pom poms?'" She said. "I started looking into it, and talking to lots of college cheerleaders. Everything they were telling me was the exact opposite of what I expected."

Torgovnick learned that — contrary to her initial impression — cheerleading was in fact, an extremely intense, competitive sport.

"I just found myself extremely fascinated," she said.

So, she decided to write a book.

"I wanted to pick three schools that would give a broad sense of the cheerleading world, and I wanted one of the teams that was sort of the best of the best, that wins almost every year — one of these super cheer teams."

That team was SFA.

In her book, Torgovnick describes the squad as the "Yale of college cheerleading," and with 10 national titles under their belt, it's easy for many people to understand why.

But, while the team was honored to be featured, some of the coaches found parts of the book shined a bad light on their program.

"She took steps to make the story sound cooler, more dramatic, and did not show the real life of cheerleaders at SFA," said head coach Trisha O'Conner, who was mentioned in several pages.

O'Conner, who has been a part of the past five national championships, said after reading the book, she felt things — such as eating disorders and drug use — were blown out of proportion.

Assistant cheer coach Andre McGee agreed.

"The writer made it look like Nacogdoches is just a party town," he said. "SFA cheer stands for a lot that she didn't mention, but rather construed. We are not cheerleader savages. This team is our family, and that means a lot to each of us."

Torgovnick said it was important to incorporate the eating disorders, injuries and drug use because it was what the cheerleaders talked about.

"I mean when you hang out with the cheerleaders, they talk about the injuries, about the drug use and the steroids. There are things in this world that I think if there was just a little bit more consciousness about ... ," she said, trailing off. "... I think that it's important that (people) start looking at body image and that they know steroids are out there; that when they see a guy that is 300 pounds they don't think 'Oh, he's been eating a lot,' instead they're like 'maybe we should go talk to him and see what's going on.'"

O'Conner said the coaches at SFA do everything possible to make sure their team is healthy.

"We can't force them to go to counseling or see a doctor. We can urge it but we can't make them go," she said.

Samantha Frazier, a senior on the squad who was also featured in a few pages of the book, said that she felt the author did an "OK" job.

"She made sure to send us copies of the book before sending it to the publisher. Katie was nice, she sent us e-mails, and really wanted to make sure everything she wrote was honest and accurate. We were a part of each step; where she was wrong, (she) edited and apologized."

Torgovnick said a lot of the cheerleaders impacted her.

"I've always been a journalist and a very academic person, so what I usually focus on is expanding my brain. With cheerleading, the focus is always on the physical, you know, working your body essentially. So, I guess I kind of learned that there is nothing wrong with that," she said. "(I learned) that is a perfectly valid and important thing to do, as well."

Torgovnick said one point she tried to convey in her book was how intense cheerleading really is.

"It takes someone with a pretty strong daredevil, thrill-seeker instinct to want to do this sport." she said.

Frazier said that many times people don't fully understand the dynamics of what goes into it.

"It's a part of where you come from, especially here in Texas. Our sport is extensive. We do flips, twists and lifting. Timing is everything, and cheerleading requires a ton of positioning. You must know where you are to be effective."

The talent and skill level of the SFA large co-ed team has often been referred to as "text book."

"Most people don't understand what we represent," Frazier said. "We really have a family bond. We're friends. We love. We hate. It's everything you find in a small community. We have lots of memories, and people can't stop coming back. Our program is staying alive, and instead of people leaving and having kids, they are coming back to show their kids what they were apart of."

Despite the publicity from the book, Kristyn Holajn a sophomore from Chicago, Ill. said cheerleaders still do not receive enough recognition.

"Not only for ourselves, but also for our school," Holajn continued. "We get lots of stereotypes thrown at us, but not many people respect us."

O'Conner said overall, the book hasn't had an effect on the squad.

"The team feels that there will always be good and bad critics. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and if anything, this book is helping get SFA cheer's name out there," she said.

Michele Marcotte contributed to this article.