Jessica Lewis
For The New Era
Wired with a hidden microphone, 19-year-old University of Oregon cheerleader Stefani Crocker spent an entire day recently being followed by a camera crew from Comcast SportsNet.
They trailed her as she walked around the UO campus. They waited for her outside her classroom. They filmed her walking to her car.
This summer, the footage was aired on the Comcast SportsNet reality TV series “Cheerleaders of Oregon.”
“[The series] really just showcases a lot of the girls’ stories and how they end up here,” Crocker said. “It’s basically about the three days of the tryouts. It’s really been a big publicity thing for us because a lot of people got to see what we go through and a lot of people are more interested in our program now.”
The directors were particularly interested in Crocker’s story because it illustrates the hard work that it takes to be a university cheerleader.
Now a sophomore, Crocker spent her freshman year recovering from her second knee surgery. The surgery, which was performed the day before the first football game of the year, meant that Crocker had to undergo intense physical therapy and was unable to practice, perform or compete for the entire school year. However, she still maintained a strong presence on the squad, attending every practice and game, and even traveling to Las Vegas to support her fellow cheerleaders at the national championships.
Now a sophomore, Crocker is excited to finally get out on the field and perform.
“Cheerleaders of Oregon” focused on personal stories from three or four other members of the UO cheerleading squad and covered the tryouts and cheerleading camp, she said.
“I thought they did a really good job [with the show],” she said. “It was done really well. It was better that what I expected. I definitely think it will boost our poster sales with the publicity.”
Crocker, who grew up in Sweet Home, has been dancing since she was 3 years old and has experience in tap, jazz, ballet and hip hop. She joined the Sweet Home High School cheerleading squad during her junior year of high school.
“It was just a real good opportunity and I decided to go for it,” she said. “I’d been dancing for a long time and cheerleading just seemed like fun.”
During Crocker’s senior year, under Coach Crystal Kimball’s guidance, the Huskies won the state 4A championship.
In addition to her cheerleading career, Crocker was the Sportsman’s Holiday Queen in 2006 and the Sweet Home High School class valedictorian in 2007. After graduation, Crocker moved to Eugene to attend UO, where she is studying human physiology.
“The cheer program is great” at Oregon, Crocker said. “They’re the best in the PAC-10 actually, so that had a little bit of an influence [on my decision to attend UO].”
But maintaining that high level is no easy feat, she said. Crocker said that being a cheerleader at UO is much more intense than cheerleading at the high school level.
“It’s magnified,” she said. “Here it’s just 10 times bigger.”
UO cheerleaders have to schedule their classes around daily practice times, Crocker said.
“Sometimes we’ll practice on Fridays, but Fridays are usually appearance days, and then we have games on Saturdays, and sometimes there’s volleyball tournaments on Sundays,” she said. “There are times when we will be cheering seven days a week. The coaches try to schedule it so we don’t, but it’s definitely busy between practice, school and making sure we get our workouts at the gym.”
Cheerleaders perform at football games, tailgate events and pre-games, as well as at women’s volleyball matches and both men’s and women’s basketball games.
“There’s a challenge every single day,” Crocker said. “Performing is definitely the best part of it. Not many people get to perform in front of 50,000 people every day.”