Earlier today I had a pretty cool experience.
I went to my niece's 5 year old birthday party today. My sister once asked one of the UNT cheerleaders if she would be willing to bring a few of the other cheerleaders to come "cheer" on a 5 year old girl's birthday since it was a cheerleading themed party. It was so great to see about 6 of the cheer squad come out to a little girl that they didn't even know and do UNT cheers and teach some stunts to all the children during her birthday party. They brought some UNT stuff to pass out and really were great representatives of the program. All the kids loved it, though they were a bit shy and intimidated at first. They really made it special for that little girl.
I know we can often be critical of everything UNT, and sometimes forget to be appreciative... but seeing some of these guys volunteer their early saturday morning to come out and represent UNT athletics and the UNT community was extremely impressive.
My wife and I later talked to some of them, since my wife was a cheerleader at UNT ten years ago. They seemed to really care about the cheer squad and the university. Though, it surprised me to know that they have been going with out a coach since last summer and it has been completely run and organized by the squad(captain) itself. In fact, they showed some concern about not only the direction of the cheer program, but whether or not they will even have/sustain a cheer program (my words, not theirs).
I think what they do can often go unappreciated... all the work they put into cheerleading, being an ambassador for the program, and going to many non-athletic events to promote the university because they love the program and the school.
Anywho, I hope the athletic department gets some things together for their squad like maybe perhaps a coach for starters. Even my wife recalls the athletic department wanting to set some stuff (scholarships or something of the sort) for the cheerleaders... this was promised nearly ten years ago... and it doesn't sound like that was ever delivered. Hopefully some things will get going for these guys.
I just wanted to let you all know what a great thing they did for a little girl's birthday and how appreciative we are of them.