Bela Henderson (12) made sure to keep a smile on her face as she danced a short Pom routine called “Third Quarter Beat,” over and over again at Oregon Cheer Team tryouts, April 17. Seventy girls attended tryouts, but by the second day, only 20 girls, including Henderson, would remain as official new members of the University of Oregon Cheer Team. 

 The audition spanned two days, with cuts being made after each day. 

“They announced the final team roster a few hours after we stopped dancing,” Henderson said. “It was pretty surreal just because a lot of the girls auditioning were also so amazing, so after the first round of cuts, I had to make sure I was on my A game.” 

The first day of auditions consisted of interviews and the “Third Quarter Beat,” routine. The second day started with solos, which Henderson was nervous about, having never performed a solo before.  

 “It was kind of nerve-wracking to dance by myself in front of the team and the panel of judges, but it ended up going really well,” Henderson said. “I danced to the song ‘Chicago’ by Michael Jackson, which is a super upbeat and fun song so it motivated me a lot while I was performing.” 

After solos, they learned a one-minute master class combo from Ellie Digiovani on the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders to a mashup of “When I Grow Up,” by the Pussycat Dolls and “Diva,” by Beyonce. 

“It was honestly a big challenge both technically and mentally,” Henderson said. “Long routines like that are definitely way harder to learn on the fly and then perform to your best ability so it took a lot of focus to make sure I was remembering the correct moves.”

Henderson said that members have to re-audition each year, which means that their spot on the cheer team is never guaranteed. 

“They’re very big on the audition process and also keeping up with the team,” Henderson said. “Obviously, it’s a really big commitment, so they want to make sure that you’re not falling behind. If you’ve been on the team once, you know the program, you know the style, and so you have to hold yourself to a pretty high standard to be able to make the team all four years in college.” 

Henderson only started thinking about dancing in college her senior year, but Sophia Hellenkamp (’25) and Eva Porter (’25), both former Westview Dance Troupe members and current members of Oregon Cheer, convinced her to pursue Oregon. 

“They just love the team, specifically the coach,” Henderson said. “She’s super body positive. She’s a big advocate for women’s sports and women in dance as well, so that’s something that means a lot to me because I’m a dancer and also a woman in sports. So just stuff about the program was really helpful to hear from them, especially about the practice times and how they balance school and dance team, which aligned a lot with my schedule and the major that I wanted to do.”

The University of Oregon Cheer Team doesn’t compete, acting as more of a spirit squad, which Henderson says was something she was looking for so she could focus more on her education. 

“[Porter] is a human physiology major, which is what I’m going to major in my freshman year,” Henderson said. “And so [Porter] told me that even though she’s doing a kind of more work-heavy major because they do a lot of labs, she said that it was so easy to be caught up with dance team and get to go to a bunch of events.”

Though the program is called Oregon Cheer, it features both a dance team and a stunt team. They attend football, basketball, volleyball, and some of the baseball games, as well as school events and any events affiliated with the University of Oregon. 

“They’re there for crowd engagement and to hype up people for sports,” Henderson said. “They serve as ambassadors of the school. I really want to be involved in the school in some way, and also I wanted to dance, so the team is perfect for both.”

Just because the team doesn’t compete doesn’t mean that there isn’t a huge time commitment. During training camp in the summer, they have three practices a day for two or three weeks straight, and during the school year, they have two practices a day. The first practice of the day is weightlifting, and in the second, they practice their halftime routines or sideline cheers. Henderson says that cheer team members need to be prepared to know 32 different sideline cheers. 

 “They’ll get called on the fly, so you have to just be paying attention to your captains, and they’ll call the name of a routine, and you just have to do it,” Henderson said. “So during training camp and also during practices, you’re just practicing all of those routines to make sure that you’re on beat with the rest of your teammates throughout the year.”

Although Henderson isn’t sure if she wants to dance after college, she says she is excited for the opportunity she has to dance at the University of Oregon. 

“For now I’m just so grateful for the experience to continue dancing in college, especially for a school and team that I love,” Henderson said. “A lot of girls who go into the pro cheer style of dance in college end up going to dance professionally in the NFL or NBA, so I’m not entirely sure about what the future holds or if that’s something I’m interested in. I just really want to make an impact on this team so far and also be an ambassador for my new school, being able to do that sport that I love.”