Creighton University’s Athletics Department has officially announced the launch of its new co-ed cheerleading program, set to begin in the fall of 2025.
“I think it’s about time that we offer this opportunity for Creighton students to have a cheer program and offer it to male and female athletes [to] just really elevate the gameday experience with Creighton,” Director of Spirit Programs and Dance Team Coach Ava Limbo said.
In an effort to provide more opportunities for Creighton students to be involved in the university’s athletics programs, the establishment of the co-ed cheerleading team aims to build a more diverse spirit squad with an emphasis on cheering and stunting.
“That’s a big reason why we wanted to bring in the co-ed part of it. … We wanted to do some stunting. So, there will be some one girl-one guy stunting, as well as probably some all-girls stunting as well,” Limbo said.
With auditions for the cheer program beginning virtually in the next two weeks, interested students can fill out an inquiry form on the GoCreighton website. After submission, they will be sent audition information by Limbo regarding further instructions.
“…I will send out the instructions [and] they will have seven days to submit their video, but I’ll have a list of skills that they need to submit. They have to submit each thing combined into one video, [or] they can splice it up or do it all in one take if they’re really feeling it,” Limbo said. “But…the judges will score that, and then [depending] on the [number] of auditions, we may do a cut and go into a second round. If we don’t feel like we need to see that, we’ll go ahead and release the roster from there and start offering squad positions.”
Auditionees will undergo a holistic review on skills including, but not limited to, tumbling, pom technique, comfortability as a flyer or base position and ability to emanate the required energy level and enthusiasm. However, regardless of prior experience, Limbo encourages all students to try out, as she believes passion for projecting school spirit is a critical skill.
“In my opinion, it’s much harder to teach the game day spirit, the confidence, the projecting [and] the performance factor…than the technical stuff. We can instill the technical stuff into our students, but if they really want to be there and they’re really going to fight for it, that stands out,” Limbo said.
According to Limbo, the co-ed spirit program is also meant to serve as another opening for students to build new connections and gain new experiences.
“It’s great [because] it just offers another opportunity to be involved to students who maybe…never [played] basketball or never played soccer, or just had an injury and weren’t able to compete collegiately; now they’re able to pursue cheer. And maybe they hang out with all the cheerleaders, and they just really enjoy spending time with them,” Limbo said. “…Friends of the dancers have been some of the students that I’ve seen inquire about cheer, just to get to hang out with their friends more and learn a new skill; get good at it together. … So, why not join and learn a new skill, become good at something that you love and get a cheer on Creighton; I mean, what’s better than that?”
Through coaching the Creighton dance team, she has noticed that sports of this nature are seemingly female-dominated. With this new program, she hopes to encourage the participation of male athletes that want to partake in Bluejay athletic events from a different, spirit-based approach.
“[There’s] lots of opportunity for…males who aren’t involved in athletics but want to [join and] be a part of the game day experience, get to travel with the team, learn a new skill. …Also, their volume is great at games [and] their strength is awesome when it comes to lifting the girls and stunting; there’s a million reasons why it’s going to be great to have [a] coed [team],” Limbo said.
Limbo believes there are many other benefits that stem from the institution of the co-ed cheerleading program. For instance, she emphasized that this new addition to the spirit programs will allow Creighton to appeal to a new demographic of students who pride themselves on their cheerleading careers. College of Arts and Sciences junior Kysa Holmstrom, who also serves as the dance team captain, believes that the new coed cheerleading team will help create a louder and more diverse cheering atmosphere for both involved students, athletes and attendees.
“I’m really excited to see that the program is expanding and opening the door for new opportunities. The new co-ed cheerleading team gives students a chance to support the Bluejays in a different way,” Holmstrom said via email. “Dance and cheerleading are very different from each other, so I’m happy there are now more options for students to excel in the sport they are passionate about. Not only that, but it will also amplify the gameday energy as well.”
Creighton’s Executive Associate Athletic Director for External Operations Mike Odom has also expressed his excitement for the new co-ed cheerleading program.
“We are really excited to add the new coed cheerleading program; it will absolutely provide some opportunities to further engage our crowd and elevate the fan and student-athlete experience,” Odom said via email. “This team will be a driver in helping create crowd energy and excitement at Bluejay events for years to come, which will help our student-athletes by providing a great home-court and home-field advantage.”