Rose basketball highlights
Wed.| 10-02-24 | SPORTS
Crowds are roaring, players are warming up and Rose alumna Bailey Popovich is cheering on the sideline of East Carolina University’s (ECU) football team. After graduating from Rose in 2024, Popovich has started a new journey as a collegiate cheerleader for the Pirates.
At three years old, Popovich started cheering and has found a love for the sport ever since.
“I originally went to East Carolina Cats in Greenville, and then it closed, and I stopped cheering for a year,” Popovich said. “Then I went to Washington for the next three years.”
During the year that she took off from competitive cheer, Popovich had the opportunity to see what life was like without the sport.
Photo by Timmy Gates
Brandenburg pumps up in order to assist the team. She
has been sidelined this season due to her injuries.
“It definitely gave me more time to get close with friends, and I did enjoy it a lot,"Popovich said. “But I did miss all the friends I made from cheer.”
Popovich always knew she wanted to go to ECU but was unsure if she wanted to cheer at the collegiate level.
“I definitely had to think about it because I knew starting college was a lot of work and a lot of school work,” Popovich said.
Once Popovich made it to college, she had a decision to make: try out for the cheerleading team, or leave cheer as a thing of the past.
The tryout process for cheerleading runs a bit differently compared to other collegiate sports. Cheerleading does not have much of a recruiting process; collegiate cheerleading is mostly just athletes trying out for the sport upon arrival to college.
After Popovich was informed she had made the team, she was relieved.
“After a while, I wanted to try out with my friend Mya that was on my team, just to see if I would make it, and then I did,” Popovich said. “Honestly, [when I found out I made the team] I was in my car on the way back from work and I was ecstatic because everyone had found out before me because I was at work.”
Since starting this new chapter, Popovich has been impressed with the culture that ECU cheerleading holds.
“Everyone has been really nice,” Popovich said. “We all work together really well, there's no cliques with anyone between the team, and everyone just really gets along and it’s great.”
Along with starting a new level of cheerleading, Popovich is also beginning a new academic journey as a freshman in college. It is important to her that she is balancing school and cheer.
“Something that works for me is I just tell myself I can do it and get all my work done while also being the best version of myself while cheering,” Popovich said.
Starting new beginnings is not easy for anyone, but Popovich has been able to thrive with the support of her friends and family.
“My mom always wanted me to do it or at least try to do it at ECU, so that's kind of what drove me to do it,” Popovich said.
Popovich is eager to see the potential that this new chapter of school and cheer holds for her.
“My goal is to branch out, meet new people, learn new skills and just learn how everything works there,” Popovich said.
