Leading the Cheer. Second year Charlotte Cleaver talks to The Buzz

The Buzz gets an insight from second year cheerleader Charlotte Cleaver into UCL’s newest sporting society all set to perform at the Varsity match on March 3rd.

cheerleading king's lightning pompoms roxy telford twickenham stoop ucl

Charlotte Cleaver, 2nd Year Astrophysics and UCLU Cheerleader.

It’s the first year that cheerleading has been a UCL society. What’s the best part of being in the squad?

Cheerleading is a sport which most people can’t do at college or school, you only really see it on American TV shows or sports games. It’s great being a part of a new experience as a squad who works hard but also knows how organise a good night out.

And the worst part?

Training sessions after a night at the Roxy are never anyone’s favourite.

I heard you don’t use pompoms, how can this be?

The cheer teams you see on those programmes aren’t the same as the reality. It’s not about standing around waving pompoms, shouting at the top of our voices.

What is it about then?

The training we do is usually quite intense. Meeting once, twice, or three times a week means there is no shortage of achy muscles, tired legs or star-jumps.

How are the cheer team feeling about varsity?

We’re definitely really excited, if slightly nervous about performing for the first time as a team in front of a stadium as big as Twickenham Stoop. Everyone gets butterflies just before a big performance like that though.

‘Some girls are just born with glitter in their veins’ (a Paris Hilton quote) is the King’s Lions Cheer Team’s motto. Is there any rivalry between the squads?

It’s always nice to get one over on Kings but maybe having heard that will give extra incentive to the team. Did Paris Hilton go to Kings?

It’s definitely a question I’ll research. And finally, apart from Varsity, what else is in store for the rest of the year?

We have our first competition coming up in April in Telford which will hopefully mean a trophy and more success for the future!