In preparation for the 2015-2016 season, the Lion cheer team attended their first NCA cheer camp in more than two decades.

The Texas A&M University-Commerce Lion Cheer team currently has 20 members (13 women and seven men) and cheers at sporting games, attends campus spirit activities and helps with school pride and morale.

The NCA (National Cheerleading Association) cheer camp in Oklahoma City featured intense workshops and routine perfections and was led by NCA staff from Oklahoma State University and Stephen F. Austin State University.

Kelsey Cooper, director of the cheer team, said the cheer squad “gets to make new traditions,” as they are planning to go to another cheer camp next summer.

Cooper said that in between the “one-on-one attention” they got to work with the staff who said, ‘What do you all want to work on?’ In addition to intense, non-stop work, the squad was also judged on their routines on the last day of the camp.

The Lion cheer squad received the Spirit Award and now use it as motivation each week to recognize a member who has shown a great attitude and spirit.

“Our goal is to make a positive name for A&M-Commerce,” Cooper said. “It’s a great way to start off a year.”