After nine years, the American Rivers Conference Competitive Dance and Cheer Invitational will be held inside Cowles Fieldhouse on Feb. 19. 

The conference competition rotates through every team in the conference based on alphabetical order. Luckily enough, it is Simpson’s turn to host this year. 

The dance and cheer teams are eager to compete in front of a home crowd in their own sport setting, instead of just showing off their skills during the basketball or football games.

Senior Sadie Green, from the dance team, says it is a great opportunity for students to see what the spirit teams do and the difference from dancing and cheering at other sports’ events.

“It’s a really fun event and it’s very different than every other sporting event,” Green said. “It’s just fun to come and watch, come and see what other teams do because you see us at basketball games, you see cheer at basketball and football, and it’s cool to see us in competition mode.” 

Senior Morgan Frisbey is a member of the cheer team and says that this competition is a great way for students to see another side of the athletic department. 

Frisbey also states that Division III cheer doesn’t get to travel and compete as much as other sports and the ARC Invitational is a huge opportunity for the team.

“It is a big moment for us because it is where we actually get to show what we can actually do besides standing on the sideline and doing a couple stunts,” Frisbey said.

Both the cheer and dance teams hope to beat their biggest opponents in their respective sports with the dance team looking forward to competing against Central while also keeping Nebraska Wesleyan on their radar, and the cheer team is looking to beat Buena Vista and Wartburg.

The spirit teams have put in a lot of hard work similar to other sports that may get recognized more than they do. They are practicing several times a week for multiple hours and sometimes are forced to practice on weekends. 

“We’ve worked really hard on this routine. We’ve put all of our hearts and sweat and tears into this routine,” Frisbey said.

The competition will feature three different dance divisions (Hip-Hop, Jazz, Pom), and three different cheer divisions (5-person Group Stunt, Game Day, 2.5 Minute).

Awarding will be different this year in the dance divisions as one overall conference champion will be announced.

“Because Pom and Jazz are the two most technical, they are taking those two scores, averaging them and whoever has the highest average becomes the conference champion,” Green said.

First place is what both teams look to achieve at the invitational and they hope to see a lot of Simpson students cheering them on to reach their goals. 

“I just hope that a whole bunch of people from Simpson and the surrounding community come out and support us,” Frisbey said.

The invitational takes place Feb. 19 in Cowles Fieldhouse beginning at 11 a.m.