 "Photo: Yasmin Baldini")
Green, white and blue streamers hung from the entrance and ceiling of The Space welcoming Drew undergraduate students to the first annual Spirit Kick Off Tuesday night.
The idea was originally conceived of in response to Director of Campus Recreation Andre Moore’s attempt to attract more attention to winter sports.
It quickly morphed into a fundraising event to support the Drew Cheer Team in their journey to Nationals this year.
Cheer Captian Michele Fetchko (’11) arranged for 20 pizzas to be donated by local pizzerias and also made a deal with The Pub.
The proceeds from every third beer sold were donated.
The event was so successful that they had to order 12 more pizzas from Domino’s only 40 minutes into the Kick Off.
Joe Horvath (’11), a three year member of the men’s Basketball team, stood by a table looking disgruntled. "There are no more hot wings left!" he said.
He arrived just a few minutes after a horde of Drew students enjoyed their money’s worth— all you can eat for two dollars.
Besides the lack of wings, Horvath said, "it’s a fabulous idea and it’s good to see students putting in effort to support our team. I hope we get the same enthusiasm at our games".
Soon after, Vanessa Williams (’10) took the stage to start off karaoke. Her rendition of Aladdin’s "A Whole New World" was a definite crowd pleaser.
Even though the YouTube video froze three times during her performance, her dance moves kept the crowed entertained.
The Cheer Team preformed a version of "The Hoedown Throwdown." Fetchko was pleased about the night’s course of events.
"Half of the people who bought wrist bands in advance didn’t even show up. But at least we got their money, right?" she said.
"70 people bought tickets ahead of time and then about 30 more bought at the door. I’m pretty happy about the turn out over all. Zack Bunda has been wearing the bracelet for about a week now, and he didn’t even show," she said.
According to Fetchko, everything done last year related to cheerleading was organized by herself and Briana DiPietro (’10).
"We are a competitive team now. We have tumbling practice separate from cheer practice and we also have a coach," Fetchko said.
The coach, Lisa Kretschman, is a NCA certified coach and cheered competitively while in high school and college.
She is the current coach of the Jersey City Liberty All-Star Team and the cheerleading team at Montclair State Unviersity.
Kretschman is also a member of Drew University’s Public Safety. Her presence has already been felt by the team.
"We have more direction and focus as a team. My co-captains and myself used to have the role of coach, as well as the role of captain and teammate. We have one less responsibility with a coach. We are able to work on skills we otherwise would not have learned without an experienced coach and past cheerleader," Fetchko said.
Their trip to nationals will require fifty thousand dollars by March. This event made a small but important dent in their endeavor for the gold.
They continue their preparation for Nationals by conditioning and practicing various skills and techniques.
The team attends tumbling practices at Star Athletics in Boonton, N.J. every Saturday to work on the team’s tumbling skills, and has practice every Sunday from 2 to 6.
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