UW’s former ‘Wildfire’ pom squad dances on the sideline during the football game against Air Force last season.
If you have attended any football or basketball games this year, you will notice that the spirit squad at the University of Wyoming is the leading sideline entertainment. However, if you recognized a change from last year compared to this year, you would notice one squad is absent.
The former pom squad at UW was cut after the end of last year’s competitive season. It was an unfortunate loss due to budget cuts the university had to make for this year.
As the pom squad was a newer group to Wyoming Athletics, it was the activity that was seen as being one the school could do without. While faculty members of the athletics department had those thoughts and feelings, students don’t share quite the same viewpoints.
“Although I enjoy watching our cheerleaders, I do miss the performances put on by the pom squad,” said senior student Hannah Weitz. “They always had the best entertainment at halftime and during time outs which I always loved watching as a fellow fan in the stands.”
Many others agree with Weitz, saying the talent the squad had enhanced the atmosphere at games.
The Department of Intercollegiate Athletics has a White Paper Analysis that lists the different expectations and values they follow in order to maintain the overall mission at the University of Wyoming. As stated in the analysis’s text, one of the key components of the University’s mission is “to promote opportunities for personal growth, physical health, athletic competition and leadership development for all members of the university community.”
While the UW Intercollegiate Athletics lists those things as key components, one has to wonder why they would cut an activity that promoted all the previous stated elements?
UW’s former ‘Wildfire’ pom squad dances during a halftime show at a basketball game last season.
While the squad might not have brought in that much revenue, the joy it brought to its members outweighed profits. What’s even more interesting about the dismissal of the squad was that they didn’t receive much funding to begin with. The pom squad members were held accountable for most of their expenses including uniforms and props.
Most colleges around the nation have a tendency to support mainstream sports like football and basketball, but lack in funding for activities like cheerleading and dance. Yet not having them would create an uproar because they add significantly to crowd involvement during games.
Perhaps in the future the athletics department will choose to bring back the pom squad as they entertained students and other fans at various games. While it is important to keep funding in mind for the benefit of other sports on campus, they should consider the benefits students receive from the opportunities to be part of other different activities too.
