Each Saturday in Jones AT&T Stadium you can find members of the Texas Tech Cheerleading squad throwing girls in the air and doing tumbling passes most people can only dream about.
In order to be prepared for gameday, members of the squad spend months practicing together. They don’t just put hours in on the cheer matt, Cheer Coach Bruce Bills holds his team to a high standard on the field and in the classroom.
“First I expect them to be a student. I want them to graduate from Texas Texas,” Bills said. “I also expect them to be a leader and an ambassador for the university and for the cheer squad.”
It takes countless hours of hard work perfecting every routine before event setting foot on the field. They have traditional gameday chants and dances as well as stunts and pyramids that they work on for every game.
The work doesn’t end with football season. You can find members of the cheer squads at basketball, volleyball and soccer games. They also do around 150 public appearances on behalf of the university.
The team spends early mornings, late nights and sacrifice a lot to be on the squad, but Bills says it’s a close group of people with the same goals in mind.
“We are their family away from home,” Bills said. “That’s why we try and take care of them and they take care of each other.”
