Neuqua cheer squad to hype up Bulls fans Saturday

Neuqua Valley cheerleaders, tired of being disrespected on the cheer circuit, are ready to take the world by storm.

And they're starting Saturday in front of 22,000 fans at Chicago's United Center.

The squad has participated in a charity drive with the Chicago Bulls this fall. For agreeing to sell 350 tickets to benefit the team's CharitaBulls, they earned the chance to perform for 15 minutes before Saturday's Bulls-Wizards game.

Junior Jessica Haap and senior Lizzy Blurton both have performed before a Bulls' game in recent years and said it's a fun way to kick off the competition season.

"You go out and pump the crowd up for the game and get everyone excited," Haap said. "It's a lot like what we do for our own games, but it's a longer routine and much larger crowd."

The 34-girl squad will perform a portion of the competition routine that it will perform at the state championships in February in Bloomington-Normal when the girls try to improve on last year's 14th place finish.

"Neuqua gets no respect as having a strong cheer program, but we've got a lot of talented girls here who are going to make everyone notice us this year," Blurton said. "And it will start before Saturday's Bulls game."

The 22,000 Bulls fans, they said, will pale in comparison to the crowds they'll see downstate.

"Those fans are crazy, like cheering is their religion," Blurton said.

Locally, however, the girls said they're aiming to get their program recognized as a sport by their peers, rather than a student organization.

"We practice several times a week and some of us play different sports too," senior Brittany Troyanowski said. "And we also balance our volunteer work, school work and other commitments just like the other athletes. So this year definitely is going to be getting us recognized as both athletes and an awesome, hardworking squad."

Coach Jackie Birner said the team has already earned her respect this year.

"They practice hard, they work hard and this group meshes really well as a team," Birner said. "This is a good group of girls."

Tickets to Saturday's Bulls game are $37 and still can be purchased from any Neuqua Valley cheerleader.