Marching Sycamores and Spirit Squad Shakeup

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Jason Svoboda

Jason Svoboda

The Bird Level
Administrator
As part of a continuing effort to build fan support at athletic and other events, Indiana State University announced changes today related to the Marching Sycamores and the Sparkettes dance team.

The School of Music plans to strengthen the auxiliary unit (known as the guard) that is part of the marching band program. The school will expand the size of the guard to provide students with more opportunities to be a part of the Marching Sycamores.

"In conjunction with increasing the size of the guard, we want to provide an enhanced presence for this unit at all Marching Sycamores performances," said Nancy Cobb Lippens, director of the ISU School of Music.

The Marching Sycamores perform at all ISU home football games, are the featured group for the Brickyard 400 NASCAR race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and have performed at a variety of other events including Chicago Bears and Indianapolis Colts games.

The Sparkettes dance team is moving to the department of intercollegiate athletics. The Sparkettes, the ISU cheer ream and school mascot Sycamore Sam, will make up the Sycamore Spirit Squad and will be led by head coach Tammy Schaffer. The Sparkettes were previously part of the Marching Sycamores band.

"We are excited about building a unified spirit team to support our athletic programs. The cheerleaders, the Sparkettes and Sycamore Sam play an important role in building an enthusiastic and fun environment for our fans and our student-athletes," said Ron Prettyman, director of intercollegiate athletics.

The Spirit Squad will also support the department of intercollegiate athletics goal of involving student-athletes in the community, and its members will serve as ambassadors for the university both on and off campus, Prettyman said.

http://www.indstate.edu/news/news.php?newsid=2728
 

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Sounds like some good moves. I, too, would like to see a larger band. The Marching Sycamores do a great job, but I'd really like to see 250-300 of them out there, as opposed to the 125 or so that they currently have.

Great moves, and hopefully it will allow the spirit drivers to become better and better.
 
Long overdue but Tammy has had that job with the cheer squad for awhile, although I don't know how long. They won't get a needed overhaul unless she has been specifically ordered to do that! I hear she is a nice person but I do not know her but as a former cheer captain, I know they need a lot of CHANGES, not just a tweak! Sparkettes need an overhaul as well, big time~
 
As a parent of two former Marching Sycamores and a former Marching Sycamore myself (back in the olden days), I think you'll not find a more dedicated group of students to Sycamore Athletics. These students report to school a few days early each fall for "Band Camp", practice 6 hours M-F plus all morning before football games. They perform a pre-game show, cheer the team on the first half, perform the half-time show, cheer the team on the second half, then return to the field one more time to play the songs from the halftime show standing in concert formation. They do all of this for one credit hour...which they pay for...Amazing Group of dedicated Students indeed!!! Thanks for all you do! Go Sycamores.
 

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BlueHeart said:
As a parent of two former Marching Sycamores and a former Marching Sycamore myself (back in the olden days), I think you'll not find a more dedicated group of students to Sycamore Athletics. These students report to school a few days early each fall for "Band Camp", practice 6 hours M-F plus all morning before football games. They perform a pre-game show, cheer the team on the first half, perform the half-time show, cheer the team on the second half, then return to the field one more time to play the songs from the halftime show standing in concert formation. They do all of this for one credit hour...which they pay for...Amazing Group of dedicated Students indeed!!! Thanks for all you do! Go Sycamores.
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BlueHeart, I hope you know I was not talking about the band there. Although their numbers are disappointing to many, their quality and dedication has NEVER been questioned on here. They are incredible and I have been a strong supporter forever.
 
Bally #44 said:
BlueHeart, I hope you know I was not talking about the band there. Although their numbers are disappointing to many, their quality and dedication has NEVER been questioned on here. They are incredible and I have been a strong supporter forever.
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I wholeheartedly agree!
 
Sycamore Proud said:
And the numbers were greater too. They were a pleasure to watch weren't they?
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Yes they were. In the 60's and 70's, their numbers were 250+. My sister, who is very musically inclined, in the late 70's saw the Marching Sycamores play at a Bengals game and I will always remember when she saw me, she was so excited to tell me that the Marching Trees were the best band she had ever seen perform in ol' Riverfront Stadium for years. That year, Ohio State, Louisville and Kentucky had played at halftimes. That pretty much says it all. They were (and are) great. I have been proud as hell when they have played for the Colt's too but they should have adopted the IU name of the "Marching 100" but they are small in stature but great in quality.
 

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Best wishes to this outstanding group on the drive to increase their numbers and improve themselves. I can speak for myself and the Tree fans I tailgate with when I say "we LOVE the Marching Sycamores, Sparkettes and cheer squad"! The times when they came by and performed by the RV will forever remain as some of the fondest memories as a Sycamore parent and fan. Hopefully these moves will make a great organization even greater. Keep up the good work. Just my 2 cents worth.

GO TREES!! :sycamores:
 
hope that the band can get back to big numbers again....

I remember back in the 1960s and 1970s, the Indiana State Marching Band was one of the best among the state colleges. But over the years, for whatever reasons, the numbers began to dwindle down to what it is today.

I mean, back in the day, the ISU Marching Band was HUGE!!!! Or at least it seemed that way. I remember them being on national TV a couple times each year playing at NFL games in St. Louis and Cleveland.
 
I may have read the whole article wrong but I never saw where the band was going to increase in size. I only read where the guard was going to increase in size. Wouldn't this really be just flag girls replacing the Sparkettes. Then actually the band size overall could decrease if they added fewer guard members than current Sparkettes..... Help if I am reading this wrong.
 
Whatever they do, I'm all for it. The band, cheerleaders, and Sparkettes have all made the football games more entertaining, and the pre-game performances around the parking lot are very much appreciated! Thank you to all of the members, and keep up the great work!
 

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I am not trying to be horribly mean, but they need to make a bigger change with the sparkettes and cheer team. I mean, when I first came to ISU, the cheer team wasn't to bad. But ever since Tammy has taken over, WOW. That's all I can say. My old high school cheer team did two times as many cheers and more moves. I think a change in director's would be good, but that is just my opinion. Tammy has always been nice when she actually talks to you, but she hardly ever talks to you in the first place if you aren't in shape and on the cheer team.

Anyways, as a former Marching Sycamore, I love that band more than anything else at this school. I put my all into that group and I loved it. Those are memories that I will hopefully never forget. And any other school that says their band is better, they don't stand a chance.
 
ISUBBallFan said:
I am not trying to be horribly mean, but they need to make a bigger change with the sparkettes and cheer team. I mean, when I first came to ISU, the cheer team wasn't to bad. But ever since Tammy has taken over, WOW. That's all I can say. My old high school cheer team did two times as many cheers and more moves. I think a change in director's would be good, but that is just my opinion. Tammy has always been nice when she actually talks to you, but she hardly ever talks to you in the first place if you aren't in shape and on the cheer team.

Anyways, as a former Marching Sycamore, I love that band more than anything else at this school. I put my all into that group and I loved it. Those are memories that I will hopefully never forget. And any other school that says their band is better, they don't stand a chance.
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what he said :cheers:
 
I have to say that I was very offeneded by Sycamore 28's response were he said, "No homo" in regards to the Sparkettes' dance routine. I do not believe we should tolerate language like that here.
 
only took 2 and a half months to get offended ? LOL Just kidding Just dont know whats to be offended by the post made no sense to me .
 
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