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They run at dawn three times a week. They lift weights. They
will have scheduled team-study sessions for anyone below a 2.75
GPA when only 2.0 is required. After all that, they practice
many hours per week striving for perfection in their sport.
This is not baseball or basketball. This is cheerleading.
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This school years cheerleading squad at HPU is working hard
for each other. Their new coach Ashley Edwards, who signed on
this summer as the Sea Warriors cheerleading coach, is here
to make things happen. “It’s good to know that he is going above
and beyond,” said Christina Feagans, a junior on the Sea Warrior
squad.
Before signing with HPU, Edwards worked for Champion Cheerleading
Gym while also coaching at Broughton High School in Raleigh,
North Carolina. Edwards said that the two experiences are totally
different from each other. “In college you find that you end
up with a true athlete,” Edwards said.
Edwards got the job despite applying after deadline by interesting
Elizabeth Tiglao, special activities coordinator at Student
Life, with his résumé, philosophies, and routine planning. “He
aims very high,” Tiglao said. “He’s got great ideas about and
around cheerleading, including academics.” “I really want to
develop a complete and totally disciplined individual,” Edwards
said. “I believe that if you create a better person and better
athlete, you will inevitably have a greater cheerleader.”
Edwards has already won club, high school, and college championships
with his routines. The Sea Warriors were also introduced to
11 new, experienced, and talented freshman this summer. “The
freshman class is pretty power-packed,” Edwards said. “Not to
take anything away from the older group because they’re extremely
talented.”
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Edwards is excited, as his team is, about the great potential
of this year’s Sea Warrior squad. “We expect to bring home
Hawai‘i Pacific University’s first title,” Edwards said. The
confidence the Sea Warriors new coach is feeling is in part
because of the Sea Warriors successful showing at a National
Cheerleaders Association summer collegiate cheerleading camp,
which was held in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina Aug. 11-17.
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At the camp, HPU finished first in the Fight Song and second
in the Spirit Routine with all the powerhouses the Sea-Warriors
will be seeing this year present. And despite meeting the
new coach and freshman for the first time only a few hours
before their first performance of the week.
“It was just an awesome experience to let the cheerleading
world know that HPU is back and that we have a lot of talent
and an extremely bright future,” Edwards said. What excites
the Sea Warrior’s more than anything is that they realize
that it is only the beginning of a bright future for HPU cheerleading.
“We realize we have a lot of improvement to make, but we
are really confident after finishing second at the camp with
no practice,” Edwards stated. The team is so new that they
have not even picked captains yet. Edwards says they will
wait a little longer to make sure they pick the right guy
and girl for the jobs. “I like for the new people to really
make sure who they want for their captain,” Edwards said.
“I believe that is a real important decision.”
Edwards also sees great work ethic and chemistry in his team.
“You can see it in their eyes that they want to be national
champions,” Edwards said. “The team is working extremely hard
and the harder they work the more it motivates me.” The Sea
Warrior cheerleaders will be busy cheering at games and competitions
all year before culminating their season at the national championships
in Florida.
“I take my best 12 guys and my best eight girls at the time,”
Edwards said about the national championship. “Whoever is
best now may not be best then. It’s an open game.”
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