By Alexandra Golder
Intern
While the University of North Carolina Wilmington men’s basketball team geared up for the CAA Championship in Baltimore, Maryland, last weekend, one UNCW cheerleader was facing a similar type of pressure.
On Saturday, March 5, senior Bayley Harmon cheered the men’s team to victory after trying out for the Baltimore Raven’s cheerleading team.
“My favorite thing about cheerleading is the stunting and my favorite type of stunting is co-ed,” Harmon said. “That’s why I picked the Ravens.”
The Ravens are the only NFL team to have co-ed cheerleaders. Harmon said the benefit of having both males and females on the team is the ability to stunt. Other NFL teams that are female-only do not perform stunts, opting for more dance routines instead.
Conveniently, tryouts fell on the same weekend as the championship. This provided Harmon with support from her teammates the morning of tryouts.
“They’re really excited,” Harmon said.
In recent years, no other UNCW cheerleader has tried out for an AFC team.
To prepare for tryouts and the championship, Harmon attended cheer practice twice a week. In addition, she takes group exercise classes at UNCW.
Andrew Midgett, Harmon’s boyfriend, also helped her practice by stunting with her.
“I’ve been a part of a lot of different sports programs, played with and against some incredible athletes, and I’ve always had a healthy respect for cheerleaders,” Midgett said. “But I truly had no clue just how much goes into everything they do, especially with co-ed stunting, until I practiced with Bayley.”
For Harmon, the excitement of stunting overpowers the risk factor.
“They could drop me or really anything could go wrong, from breaking a bone to breaking multiple,” Harmon said, “but I do it because it’s thrilling to be thrown in the air.”
When Midgett watched videos online he was always impressed, but at the same time, in the back of his head, he thought he could probably do that.
“But there’s so much form that goes into it and chemistry as well with your partner,” he said. “Definitely took me a lot of failures before I even got one stunt down.”
Harmon’s family was supportive in helping her prepare.
“My mom flew out to drive me to and from tryouts and the championship,” she said.
Although Ravens’ cheerleaders do not earn much, this does not affect Harmon’s decision to pursue this career.
“It’s my passion,” she said. “I’ve been cheering for 16 years and this is something I’ve always wanted to do.”
