By Austin Price, Editor in Chief
It’s no secret that Regis University has spirit, spunk, and fun. With countless student activities, clubs, sports, and events, the Regis community is a menagerie of personal exchanges, group collaboration, and team building. However, one of the most impactful and important pieces of the Regis community is the Regis Spirit Team.
Spirit Team is Regis University’s official united Cheer and Dance squads representing our school spirit program. Regis’ spirit program supports Regis Athletics and beyond, promoting not only school-wide spirit, but positivity, unity, and perseverance through athletic arts and community-wide relationships.
In 2004, the Regis Spirit Team made its appearance as a dance team. It was a group of eleven girls who wanted to provide school spirit to the university even though there was no football team to cheer for. The idea behind the team was simple, to support other students at Regis, even if there was no specific team to support. The Regis Spirit Team brought energy and enthusiasm to Regis basketball games by performing progressively difficult choreography and new routines during the half-time shows.
As the years passed and the Spirit Team grew, more difficult and different choreography was introduced, including styles like jazz and hip-hop, bringing intense energy and passion to the crowd. By 2010, the Regis Spirit Team reached an elite level. Throughout 2010- 2013, the Regis Spirit Team was all cheer-based and under the direction of a coach, they participated in several statewide competitions to perfect their skills and receive criticism from judges. Despite this trend of success and growth, by 2014, the Regis Spirit Team seemingly disappeared from the radar of the Regis community.
Through 2015-2019, the Regis Spirit Team struggled to make an impact due to lack of funding and a coach's absence. However, this was not the end for the Regis Spirit Team. In 2022, a group of freshmen and sophomores learned about the Spirit Team’s legacy and worked hard to revive it. Despite a severe lack of funding and support, the Regis Spirit Team is a united cheer and dance squad with a record breaking 18 members in the 2023-2024 season. They have continued to grow by adding more sport events to their calendar of cheering events, including volleyball and soccer. With a powerhouse leadership team working to rebuild, and a passionate group of members, the Regis Spirit Team has high hopes for success and continued cheer.
With a bigger platform to work with and a larger audience, the Regis Spirit Team hosts an imperative mission. They work to elevate Regis University’s sense of community and spirit, through sharing values of positivity, unity, and perseverance through performances, athletic / student engagement, and community involvement. They are striving for academic and athletic excellence for our team members and inspiring other students and youth to pursue artistic outlets that channel adversity into shared purpose and achievement.
Not only does Spirit Team highlight the victories and excitement of Regis University, but they also recognize the tragedies we have faced as a school this past year. They say, “Spirit Team has begun to engage much more with our greater campus community, especially after the tragedy we’ve faced and persevered through as a team this academic year. After the sudden and terrible loss of one of our dance captains early in October, we experienced the true power of leaning on one another, having core team values that tethered us through these challenges, and brought clearer purpose alongside what we do. We created mental health bags to hand out and further spread not only positivity, but grit through campus-wide hardships experienced and shared on a greater scale throughout the Fall semester of 2023. Members on our squads shared sentiments such as how we can show up as the spirit team we are, to promote our shared human spirit, especially when life becomes challenging, and we must rely on our spirit, faith, and hope. Not only did we continue to be a consistent friendly face at athletic events such as men and women’s soccer, volleyball, and men and women’s basketball games, but became more involved for student resource-oriented events, such as the Student Resource Fair early this Spring Semester,”.
Momentum continues for the Regis Spirit Team, and they have no plans to slow down in their team building and awareness raising initiatives. They say, “Spirit Team plans on growing our student involvement further. We plan on hosting cheer and dance clinics for those interested in trying out for our team for the 2024-2025 season prior to beginning our Fall 2024 semester in August, hosting mini-poms and mini-cheer clinics for youth connected to our community to learn artistic and life-skills in a safe, fun, and loving environment with our student athletes next season, and plan to further build upon our shared purpose by merging our love for outreach mental health projects with athletic excellence. Other ways we plan on increasing our involvement are by donating our time and efforts to volunteer for positive initiatives around campus and enhancing the ways in which we can give to our student-body,”.
Regis Spirit Team is a unique club on campus because of what connects the club members together. They seek to teach, learn, and to grow. They say, “We seek to provide opportunity to those with little to no experience in cheer and dance to engage on a collegiate-level team on a club-based commitment, as well as striving to provide an elite-level of dance and cheer education and opportunity to those seeking to build upon their years of experience prior to attending Regis on an athletic team-based commitment. Bridging our multiple squads who practice different disciplines allow each member to learn and inspire one another, exceeding the limitations we as humans can often place on ourselves when feeling disempowered,”.
Regis Spirit Team continues to take Regis University by storm and has no plans of slowing down. This past season, they have added a coach, increased funding, and clarified their standards, expectations, and goals. They plan to compete in the future, host camps to build upon the strengths and potential of all Regis student athletes and provide countless opportunities for members to succeed in the Denver community and beyond. They say, “Spirit Team, like many other groups / organizations on campus, holds dear values of inclusivity and hopes to foster a safe space of expression and triumph for any student, where all genders, orientations, and cultural backgrounds are welcome to bring themselves fully to add to the collective community we’re fostering of positivity, unity, and perseverance,”.
So, next time you’re at a Regis sporting event, I encourage you to really watch and appreciate the Regis Spirit Team, now that you know what obstacles they’ve overcome and what challenges they have faced. Give this team of cheer some support and let them include you in their energy and enthusiasm as they bring ultimate levels of spirit.