How AnnMarie Cauble found her way to NGU cheerleading
Ava Henderson, Staff Writer
Photo courtesy of Ohana Photos
AnnMarie Cauble is a sophomore cheerleader at North Greenville University. She’s been on the team for two years, majoring in exercise science. Cheer has been a part of Cauble’s life since she was in middle school and is something she said is going to miss when she graduates.
Cauble first heard about NGU when she went there to Fuge Camp with her youth group. They came every summer, and she immediately started to love the campus and the area. During her junior year of high school, she was given some information about the school and scheduled a tour of campus for her second semester.
During the tour, she got to see NGU as a school and not just a summer camp. She met some people who she could stay in touch with if she ever had questions. This led to her getting invited to participate in an overnight stay at NGU to see what college life was like. Once she did this, she knew NGU was the place for her.
“I already knew I loved the campus, and once I did the overnight, I fell in love with NGU and could really see myself going here,” Cauble said. “The people I met were so kind and made this place feel like home.”
Cauble knew wherever she went to school, she wanted to cheer. So, while at the overnight, she got some information about the cheer team and even got to talk one on one with the head coach.
Rockey Gaines, the head coach of NGU cheer told her that he wanted videos of the skills she had, so he knew what she could do. Cauble then started sending him clips of practice during her senior year. To make sure she made the team, she improved her tumbling, as that was something Gaines said he was looking for.
“During practice my senior year, I would go to tumbling privates and send Rockey those videos,” Cauble said. “He said he was very impressed and decided to sign me in November.”
Cheer has been something Cauble has enjoyed since she was in middle school. She first cheered only sideline during football and basketball games, to see if cheer is something she’d like. She then was invited to a varsity competition to see what it was really like and if she would be interested in competing.
After watching the competition, she wanted to be a part of the team. She tried out her freshman year of high school and made the team and was full of excitement for the seasons to come. After her first competition, she knew she never wanted to stop.
“That first competition feeling is something I’ll never forget. I knew I wanted to do this as long as I could and become the best I could as well,” Cauble said.
Cauble was able to cheer on the varsity competition team all four years of high school which led to her being able to continue her passion in college at NGU.
There are many things Cauble loves about cheering. Her favorite part is learning new and difficult skills and getting to show them off at games and competitions.
She said this is because “while it’s hard it’s also so rewarding when you finally hit the hard stunt for the first time.”
Cauble also loves gamedays, football especially. Running out with the football team pregame and getting the fans excited is her favorite part.
She said, “Gamedays are so much fun especially when the crowd is hyped up.”
Something Cauble appreciates about cheer is the closeness of the team. She loves that she becomes family with every girl and knows that they are with each other through the ups and downs of life, inside and outside of cheer. She can go to any one of them about a problem she is having and knows they will do whatever they can to help her through it.
Cauble is an exercise science major and is very busy with cheer on top of that. One thing she struggles with is time management and balancing her work, cheer and social life. Now that she is a sophomore, she is starting to look into internships to do over the summer, because that is the only time she has free to work.
“My freshman year was a struggle because I would go to class, eat a quick dinner and go to practice and have to squeeze in time for homework right before bed or in the mornings,” Cauble said. “I’ve developed a good schedule now, but finding motivation to do homework after I’m worn out from practice still isn’t easy.”
She has also had to give up spending time with her friends because she has homework to catch up on or practice to go to. She is thankful for the great friends that she has that coordinate with her so they can all hang out when she’s not busy.
Overall, cheering is something AnnMarie Cauble is very passionate about doing and loves every second of it. She knows she’ll have to give it up soon, but for now she’s enjoying the moment.
