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Wow- that’s all I can say after experiencing what I did this weekend! Hey everyone, it’s Tyler from the University of Central Florida, I am a freshman on the cheerleading team. This past Saturday I had the most amazing opportunity; I got to travel to Columbus, Ohio to cheer on the Knights in the game against The Ohio State University! I’m originally from Ohio so this was an extremely awesome opportunity to cheer my first game back home! The experience of traveling to an away game is amazing; you get to see places you would never otherwise get to see! It is also a completely different gameday experience – from traveling with the team, sightseeing, bonding with your team, and getting the chance to cheer in other college stadiums!
We started off the weekend bright and early heading to the airport as a team! All of us were laughing and joking on the bus down and the excitement for this weekend was evident. Traveling with the team was a very cool experience for me and brought me a lot closer to my older teammates, coach and especially my partner Andy! I also got the opportunity to meet several UCF alumni and boosters.
We had finally arrived in Ohio! We had the chance to walk around campus and see what this cool college town had to offer! It was so good to be back home, walking around I even ran into some old work friends!
It was finally time for team dinner! We ended up at Eddie George’s Grille by recommendation from the Ohio State cheer coach himself, Eddie! We had a blast, it had the best game day atmosphere… oh and there were UCF alumni and fans eating along with us! Half way through dinner we even showed up the Ohio State fans by breaking out in the traditional U-C-F spell out throughout the restaurant with the fans! It was definitely an experience I’ll always remember.
After we ate dinner we got a chance to walk around the town and see everything, and of course messed around and stunted a little bit in front of the OSU sign (but what cheerleaders wouldn’t)! It was so much fun to see people getting ready for the game the next day and seeing all the UCF fans that came out to watch the game! Everyone was so friendly and welcoming it was awesome! And we couldn’t leave without getting a picture with the Buckeye!
It was finally game day – my first time cheering a college football game and I was going to do it in front of 105,000 people!! It felt surreal to be putting on the uniform and UCF face sticker for my first game ever. I was so excited and nervous at the same time. Right away we were off to put on a pep rally for the UCF alumni!! When we arrived at the pep rally, the first people I saw were my parents! It was so amazing for me that they got to be at my first collegiate game ever. It definitely put me at ease. They watched as we mingled and took pictures with the alumni and fans and then performed our pep rally routine. And then it was off to the stadium!
When I walked into the stadium I couldn’t even believe this was happening! It was huge and there were fans filling the stadium completely. I had to give myself a minute to take it all in before we got set up and jumped right in. Our fans were amazing and cheered us on just as much as they did the team; it was great! “UCF, UCF, UCF!!!” I could look up and see my parents cheering me on and I couldn’t take the smile off my face.
I’ve heard so many good things about the Ohio State cheerleaders and coaching staff, they even come and practice with us before nationals every year. It’s a tradition for Ohio State, LSU, Tennessee and a couple other schools to practice at UCF the Friday before the UCA College National Championship. During half time we got to go under the student section with them for a quick snack before it was back to the game! I can’t wait to see them again in January.
The second half was a little bittersweet as the Buckeyes took the win, but I was so proud of our Knights and my team! Cheering on the sidelines for the first time was an experience I’ll never forget and I can’t wait for my first home game this Saturday! As the fans cleared out we got a chance to watch their amazing band one last time and then it was off to the airport to head back to Orlando. I feel so privileged to have been given the chance to cheer at this game and I had an absolute blast! GO KNIGHTS!
-Tyler Peterson / Photo Credit Chris Schubert/UCFAA
Wow- that’s all I can say after experiencing what I did this weekend! Hey everyone, it’s Tyler from the University of Central Florida, I am a freshman on the cheerleading team. This past Saturday I had the most amazing opportunity; I got to travel to Columbus, Ohio to cheer on the Knights in the game against The Ohio State University! I’m originally from Ohio so this was an extremely awesome opportunity to cheer my first game back home! The experience of traveling to an away game is amazing; you get to see places you would never otherwise get to see! It is also a completely different gameday experience – from traveling with the team, sightseeing, bonding with your team, and getting the chance to cheer in other college stadiums!We started off the weekend bright and early heading to the airport as a team! All of us were laughing and joking on the bus down and the excitement for this weekend was evident. Traveling with the team was a very cool experience for me and brought me a lot closer to my older teammates, coach and especially my partner Andy! I also got the opportunity to meet several UCF alumni and boosters.
We had finally arrived in Ohio! We had the chance to walk around campus and see what this cool college town had to offer! It was so good to be back home, walking around I even ran into some old work friends!
It was finally time for team dinner! We ended up at Eddie George’s Grille by recommendation from the Ohio State cheer coach himself, Eddie! We had a blast, it had the best game day atmosphere… oh and there were UCF alumni and fans eating along with us! Half way through dinner we even showed up the Ohio State fans by breaking out in the traditional U-C-F spell out throughout the restaurant with the fans! It was definitely an experience I’ll always remember.
After we ate dinner we got a chance to walk around the town and see everything, and of course messed around and stunted a little bit in front of the OSU sign (but what cheerleaders wouldn’t)! It was so much fun to see people getting ready for the game the next day and seeing all the UCF fans that came out to watch the game! Everyone was so friendly and welcoming it was awesome! And we couldn’t leave without getting a picture with the Buckeye!
When I walked into the stadium I couldn’t even believe this was happening! It was huge and there were fans filling the stadium completely. I had to give myself a minute to take it all in before we got set up and jumped right in. Our fans were amazing and cheered us on just as much as they did the team; it was great! “UCF, UCF, UCF!!!” I could look up and see my parents cheering me on and I couldn’t take the smile off my face.
I’ve heard so many good things about the Ohio State cheerleaders and coaching staff, they even come and practice with us before nationals every year. It’s a tradition for Ohio State, LSU, Tennessee and a couple other schools to practice at UCF the Friday before the UCA College National Championship. During half time we got to go under the student section with them for a quick snack before it was back to the game! I can’t wait to see them again in January.
The second half was a little bittersweet as the Buckeyes took the win, but I was so proud of our Knights and my team! Cheering on the sidelines for the first time was an experience I’ll never forget and I can’t wait for my first home game this Saturday! As the fans cleared out we got a chance to watch their amazing band one last time and then it was off to the airport to head back to Orlando. I feel so privileged to have been given the chance to cheer at this game and I had an absolute blast! GO KNIGHTS!
-Tyler Peterson / Photo Credit Chris Schubert/UCFAA
