Group members say they plan to do more intricate and difficult routines next year. The group, says Rice, has been working on double stunts and pyramids in preparation for next year.

The extra training will also make the stunts less dangerous for participants.

"Most of the stunts we do aren't dangerous," says Wrchota. "They've been practiced, and we don't do them unless we are good at them. If you know what you're doing and people are serious about the routines, then its safe."

But risk has been a serious concern, especially after Daly last fall fell off the top of a pyramid and blacked out when she hit the ground. Although she left the field on a stretcher, she suffered no permanent injuries.

Squad members say they are also attempting to deal with their money shortage.

The team currently raises cash by working for Harvard Spirit, a student-run group which sells, among other things, the class banners that hang in many undergraduate rooms.

Next year, team members say they plan to do more fundraising. For instance, they have already planned a T-shirt fundraiser for incoming freshmen.

"When you don't have any money," says Daly, "it takes a lot of organization."

The Athletic Department says it, too, is making an effort to help the cheerleaders. "Two years ago I came on board [at the Athletic Department], and they were just sort of there," says Robert Malekoff, who acts as a liason between the department and the squad. During the last two years, says Malekoff, the department has "helped them out logistically" with transportation to away games.

"The problem is that we are in the business of intercollegiate athletic teams, and they clearly aren't that," says Malekoff. He adds that while "their support is clearly appreciated...the department can't be all things to all people."

Looking to the Future

Members of the cheerleading squad say they believe that if they can reach a level of athleticism and expertise that previous squads have been unable to achieve, then the department might support them. But department officials say they doubt the cheerleaders' level of support will change any time in the near future.

"We cannot at this point give them equal support" as the department gives to intercollegiate athletic squads, Malekoff says.

Even if the cheerleaders do not receive as much official support and respect as they would like; members of the team say they will continue to participate simply because they enjoy what they do every Saturday afternoon during the football season.

"Personally, I don't find [fan ridicule] frustrating," Rice says. "I take it as a given [for a school that focuses on academics]. I find building school spirit a challenge." He adds that cheerleading is taken much more seriously at other schools around the country.

And not everyone ridicules the cheerleaders, squad members say. "In public they laugh at us, but in private they will tell us that we're good," Daly says.

Wrchota says that the alumni and the fans from other schools do give the cheerleaders some "positive feedback...They seem less embarrassed about getting into it," she says.

"The word that you could use to describe us is 'fun,'" says Wrchota. "We have fun on and off the field."