The Alabama Crimson Tide is doing well in athletics so far this year. The football team is favored by 11.5 points against Auburn in the Iron Bowl, according to CBS Sports. This comes as both the men’s and women’s basketball teams at UA are dominating as their season kicks off. Everything has started falling into place for the Tide.
However, football and basketball aren’t the only sports The University of Alabama is known for. The Spirit Team is another force that Alabama Athletics has at its disposal.
The UA Sprit Squads are comprised of the cheerleading, dance and Big Al teams. These squads are the backbone to keeping the atmosphere lively during all college events they attend-- and even during their own competitions.
All three teams are always booked and busy year-round with many classic outfits and attire to showcase. These fashionable fits are just as much a part of gameday as the jerseys the athletes performing on the field and on the court wear to each matchup.
However, the cheerleading squad is looking to add a innovative element to their peppiness in the future by adding a new uniform into their rotation.
“We're actually trying to finalize [the uniform], because we haven't had a cheer uniform in a few years,” said Jennifer Thrasher, the director of spirit programs at The University of Alabama, who’s in her 14th football season with the squad. “We've been working with Varsity [Spirit], and they keep sending custom lettering to make sure that the Script A is on the uniforms.”
When going through the process of getting new attire, UA doesn’t look at other schools. The inspiration comes from within the university. In fact, Thrasher said other schools, even non-collegiate ones, take inspiration from Alabama’s cheer uniforms.
“We see with camps in the summer, from t-shirts to their uniforms. They're like, ‘We copy the one we love that Alabama wears, because they are classic and timeless in a way.’ And that's why we keep our uniforms so long, too, because they are timeless. They don't go out of style,” she said.
Thrasher also said the last uniform for the cheer team was based on attire from when she used to cheer for the Crimson Tide.
“I think the last one that we did was called “Throwback.” Usually when football season starts, I'll post a picture of me cheering, and they're like, bring it back. So, we did, and we call it Throwback,” she said.
Thrasher, originally from Madison, got her start in cheerleading when she was in high school, which was on her school’s competitive cheer team.
“I cheered for a competitive high school, and I came to the University a couple hours away from home, and thought, ‘I've done that gymnastics and cheer my whole life. I'm going to get involved in other things, and I'm not going to do it.’ Well, I missed it after I didn't,” she explained when talking about she decided to try out at the end of her freshman year for cheer. “I was a cheerleader here while I was here, and then was a grad assistant coach when I finished and graduated,” she explained.
The classic and newly made cheerleading garbs can take anywhere up to 16 weeks to receive, and Big Al’s uniforms can take even longer due to the customization. All of Big Al’s costumes, ranging from his chef attire all the way to his Bob Ross look, are preplanned for all football games.
Much like when Thrasher was a cheerleader, costumes and uniforms aren’t the only thing the spirit team has to maintain.
“We meet every Monday at 3:30 and if we have a game coming up, [and] we talk about costuming. Bob Ross, they did a couple of games ago, was funny with setting up the easel and all the things, [to] put the wig on. So, they really do think those things through,” she explained. “But then, if you'll notice, he's always in a crimson jersey for football within fourth quarter. it's tradition to get into the white jersey.”
Thrasher explained that the squad also has to maintain public appearance, which also includes hours before the games begin.
“A lot of people don't realize the spirit teams and Big Al, they meet four hours before a kickoff, and they start appearances. And games are almost four hours by the time you start. So, that's a long day,” Thrasher said.
Big Al even has extra duties on gameday outside of appearances with the rest of the spirit squad teams. Thrasher explained these can last up to four hours before a football game even kicks off.
“Big Al does pregame, which starts maybe an hour before kick. But Big Al also does visits before… [at] all the tents and different things,” she said. “We have vendors and people who request him for a birthday or different things. We do Elephant Stomp and Walk of Champions, all the things that are just before the game. So, you know, you get to the game, and you've already been going for four hours.”
But the spirit teams aren’t just there to hype up UA’s other athletic teams. The cheerleading and dance teams competed at the Universal Cheer Association (UCA) and Universal Dance Association (UDA) earlier this year. They placed highly in their competition categories and are currently preparing to go back.
“We're also preparing our teams for nationals. They compete once a year in January, in Orlando, Florida. It takes up so much time of what we do, but it also is just a small piece of what we do,” Thrasher said.
The Alabama Crimson Tide is set to wrap up their regular football season playing Auburn University in the 2024 Iron Bowl on Nov. 30 at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa. To learn more about the Spirit Squads, click here.
