When Hayley Scherer ’22 stepped onto campus as a first-year student in 2018, she couldn’t wait to take advantage of the many exciting opportunities Colby-Sawyer had to offer. Unfortunately, a cheerleading team was not one of them since the sport had been dropped many years earlier.

Scherer began her cheering career when she was five years old. Starting with a Pop Warner cheer squad and moving on to all-star cheerleading in high school, Scherer was no stranger to cheerleading when she arrived to CSC. It didn’t take long for her to figure out how to start the ball in motion to begin this club sport at the college. “I asked if we could try having a cheer team again,” Scherer said. “I was told yes, if we could find a coach.”

So, Scherer set off to find a coach.

Scherer emailed some local high schools to ask if any of the cheerleading coaches would be interested in starting a team at Colby-Sawyer. After one local coach agreed to help out, Scherer set up a table at the annual activity club fair and found quite a few people who were interested in trying out for the team.

The following year, the cheering squad was re-established at the college with 12 members that cheered for the men’s and women’s basketball teams. And then, COVID-19 came to town.

During 2020, the teammates continued to practice although there were no games to cheer at. And then, beginning her senior year, Scherer was able to enjoy her first full year of cheering with a group of 15 students.

Right before Scherer’s graduation, the existing coach stepped down from the position, and there was an opening for a new coach. Since Scherer planned on remaining on campus to receive her master’s in business administration, she decided to apply for the position.

Scherer now proudly coaches the team that didn’t even exist when she set foot on campus. She has 18 members on the team and holds practices twice a week and a tumbling class on Saturdays. They attend all basketball games and cheer, form pyramids, do stunts and perform basket tosses. “I like that being on cheer team is like being in a community, Scherer said. “You really form bonds with your teammates.”

Scherer is hoping to raise $5,000 to purchase new items for the cheering team, including new uniforms, pom poms and bows.