When we came back in mid-July for practice, we had a very important goal in mind.  We wanted to go to camp at East Tennessee State and show everyone just how good this year’s team was and what Delaware Cheerleading is all about.  The team had a great time and bonded together to help produce a first place finish in Fight Song, second place in Sideline, second place in Cheer, and shared the Most Collegiate Team award!  We came back to Delaware feeling very proud and ready for an exciting football season.

 With the talent level and number of people on the team this year, Head Coach Joe Mackley came up with some incredible pyramids for us to show off at the numerous pep rallies and football games.  As we cheered and amazed the crowd, we pushed our limits to help Delaware Head Football Coach, Tubby Raymond, reach his landmark 300 wins!  With the great coaching of Melissa Bailey and former UD cheerleader Mindy Galella, the gold team was able to make some great strides this year.  The large number of athletes on the gold team allowed them to throw pyramids and make some more noise at the other end of the stadium.  They joined in at the pep rallies, adding extra enthusiasm and strength.

 Our success during football season helped the team breeze through what can be a very tough part of the season: preparing our nationals qualifying tape.  We had several taping dates over the course of a month to produce the best tape we have ever sent in.  There were so many skills on tape, including full up stunts for the first time, that we had to cut some of them out because there wasn’t enough time for them all!  In the end, we were rewarded with a second place finish on our tape and a paid bid to Florida!  This was the first Delaware team ever to place that high!

 With taping over, we put our focus toward our Nationals Routine.  This year’s routine was action packed and filled with difficulty!  Even though the skills were very difficult, we worked hard through six-hour practices to perfect them.  We were lucky enough to have Mindy Galella return to the team when we were plagued with injuries.  Blue Hen fans had a chance to see a dress rehearsal of the routine at basketball games and at the Carpenter Sports Building.  We developed our pre-routine rituals of slapping the floor, handshakes, and hugs!  

Upon our arrival in Florida, we had an outstanding greeting from the parents and alumni who were there to see us perform.  The practice at the hotel the day before the competition felt incredible and all eyes were on us.  That night, we were very proud when the mascot team took first place in their competition!  The day of the competition, we felt very confident and ready to perform the routine the best that we could.   As the music started (with no problems this year), we through up our opening pyramid.  It was the best one we had ever done!   Throughout the routine, there were a couple of problems, but everything else looked absolutely amazing.  Even with our mistakes, we were able to take third place at the competition.  The Delaware spirit groups were able to come back home very proud of their accomplishments!

Upon returning from Nationals, we still had a Basketball Season to look forward to.  Both blue and gold teams worked together to give some of the younger people some more experience and to be able to do more on the floor.  Each game, the team set out to have a great time and show off our skills.  At the last couple of games, the cheerleaders, mascots, and dancers put an exciting half time routine together for our True Blue Basketball Fans!  We were lucky enough to travel to the men’s and women’s CAA tournaments down in Virginia to cheer them on.  Like all good things, this season had to come to an end.    

 We would like to thank our coaches Joe Mackley, Melissa Bailey, and “Doc” Bill Shearer for everything they have done for this team and for us over the past couple of years.  No one is more dedicated or cares more for this program than they do.  This year, we will be graduating nine seniors, so next year will be a bit of a rebuilding year for the team.  However, we know that the new Delaware Cheerleading team of 2002-2003 will do a great job and we wish them GOOD LUCK!

We’ll miss you!

Sincerely,
Jeff Hillenmayer and Christy Lion
Captains