Review: Joint Football-Cheerleading Social

Whipped cream, bananas, condoms and several roles of masking tape…what really goes on at a joint football-cheerleader social?

12 years ago

Oliver Rossiter

News
EXETER

cheerleaders drinking football socials

Often advertised as “the social you must attend if you’re going through a dry spell,” the joint football-cheerleader social rarely disappoints.

Recent items that have made an appearance include whipped cream, bananas, condoms and several rolls of masking tape: it certainly doesn’t take a genius to work out how most of them are used.

Our aim at the Drop is to let you know the things that really go on in sports socials across the University, and it seemed fitting place to start with two of the most notorious clubs at Exeter.

Usually just once a year, the joint social has already taken place twice this time round. Members of both clubs flock to the top floor of Mosaic for some heavy drinking before moving onto TP- the stomping ground for all sports socials on a Wednesday evening.

Anyone coming just to pull a cheerleader or to see if they can improve their stats at Timepiece would probably go home feeling pretty disappointed. Whilst there are some success stories flying about in training the following evening it is not all about turning up to pull. There are always more guys than girls, and it’s always one of the most popular socials.

The fresh are told to bring masking tape, and the meeting is always 7pm: come too early and you look too keen, arrive late and well, tardiness is impolite. The late comers are kindly advised to hit the bar and sip a navy rum, not an ideal start to a night.

The social sec always puts the extra bit of effort in when organising this event – a task for which he deserves the respect of the attendees. If you are rude enough to talk over him or have your phone out, naturally, your manners will be called into question.

The night always starts civilised but quickly becomes difficult to control as the alcohol begins to flow. As everyone takes their seats the fresh sit on the floor: they are yet to serve the club enough to earn the luxury of sitting on a chair.

There is undoubtedly a hierarchy within the club. The 1st years are under the jurisdiction of 2nd and 3rd years. Whilst nobody is ever forced to down their drink, it is definitely in your best interests to do what they say: you will gain a whole lot more respect if you finish your drink without asking questions.

There’s always one guy who gets power hungry and asks people to see off pint after pint, but on the whole people are pretty relaxed. Some sports socials have a bad reputation for ruining most of the people who turn up, and as the Drop continues to visit more and more socials it’ll be interesting to separate the truth from the rumours.

Back to the football social and as the night begins to heat up the social sec comes round and sellotapes your arm to a cheerleader. You have no say in the matter and this bond will remain until TP when the bouncers severe the tie. It’s like being back in freshers week, where rather awkward silences with people you’ve never met begin to eradicate as you order more beers from the bar.

Once tied, there is very little that’s off limits. Toilet trips become a shared experience: you’ve just got to trust that your new partner turns their back whilst you do your business.

4 ‘lucky’ couples are then brought to the stage, where whipped cream is smothered across one and the other is made to lick it off. The pair are then given a banana, and in a rather surprising turn of events the girl has to place it between her legs and the guy must push the condom (with his mouth) as far down as possible.

In the second social there was also a rendition of "Blind Date", with the chosen girl having the prize of being tied to the guy for the entire night. Questions such as ‘how many guys have you slept with’ and ‘what’s your ideal date’ are flung at the 3 candidates who do all they can to win the attention of their suitor.

The nights are generally laid back and like all football socials, there isn’t a particular emphasis on getting one person written off. Past concerns of the university that socials pressure students to drink appear thus far unfounded – here, the pressure is on to have a good time.

After visiting a football social there are now plans in place to visit Rugby, Lacrosse and Hockey in the near future.

Watch this space as we reveal what really goes on at sports socials across the Uni.

Oliver Rossiter

News
EXETER