THERE’S no way to go but up for the La Salle Animo Squad.
Coming from an eighth-place finish last year, the Taft-based cheerleaders are ready to move a notch higher in the UAAP Season 82 Cheerdance Competition on November 17 at the MOA Arena.
But for the Ramon Pagaduan-led team, having to perform first in the eight-team competition adds pressure to the team, which was formed two months ago.
“Di naman mawawala ang challenges eh, it’s a matter of coping with the challenges,” said Pagaduan. “September lang kami nag-start.”
“Given na first kami to perform and we all know [that’s] the hardest to be in,” he added.
“So sabi ko sa kanila ma-hit lang nila ‘yung routine nila and malinis, tataas ang ranking from last year.”
For team captain Ricia Deguito, aside from a better finish for this year’s competition, she wants to make the most of her last dance.
“I’m very excited and pressured din because we don’t want to happen ulit what happened last year, we want to do better talaga, gusto rin namin ipakita kay coach na kaya namin bumawi talaga,” she said.
I want also, for me personally, to exit with a good exit for my last year and also for those graduating,” she added.
All eyes will be on defending champion National University Pep Squad but for Pagaduan they need not to look to far to see which team they need to beat.
He also added that, unlike other sports where there’s an outright opponent, in cheerdance they only need to execute their routine perfectly to win.
“Ako kasi ang mantra ko palagi, ang sariling team ko ang kailangan matalo ng team ko,” said Pagaduan. “Kasi at the end of the day it’s not like basketball or any other sport na kapag performance ninyo may magbabantay sa inyo, may magdi-distract sa inyo.”
“It’s more of kung paano nila mahi-hit ang routine, so para sa akin ang team to be is Animo Squad,” he added.
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