Cheerleading Profile: Danielle Rhoads

Danielle Rhoads is one of the two seniors and captains on the cheerleading squad, which makes her last year extra special.

During her time at Hempfield High School in Lancaster, Pa., she viewed cheerleading as something that was not worth her time. “I hated cheerleading,” she said, opting for track instead.

In Rhoads’ first year at Eastern, her roommate convinced her that it would be fun to try out for the cheerleading squad. “I didn’t think I was even going to make it,” she said. But to her surprise, she found that there was more to cheerleading than dances and pompoms.

Since she ran track in high school, she believed the transition to cheerleading would be easy.

“When I got on the team, I realized that this is a really hard sport,” Rhoads said. “People’s lives are in your hands, so there is more strength involved here than there is in running track.”

As co-captain, she has many responsibilities, and enjoys seeing the success of her hard-working squad. She is very excited about all that she and the squad are doing and is proud to hold an active role in their progress

“This is probably the best team we’ve had in the four years that I have been here,” she said.

Rhoads considers herself lucky to be an influential part of the squad and the school. The cheerleading squad is something that she takes pride in and simply enjoys for the comraderie and sheer fun she gets with every new experience.