A local football cheerleader will be continuing her cheerleading experience at the college level after Aly Fuller signed a letter of intent to cheer for the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles for football and basketball.
Tennessee Tech Head Cheer and Dance Coach Sydney Hickerson said Aly is a great fit for their program. “Aly is a really hard worker, and she learns very fast. She’s versatile and can play a lot of different roles; anything the team would need. She has a great game day presence.”
“At Tennessee Tech she will cheer for all home football, and we split up and rotate squads for basketball season because there are so many home games. We also travel to the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament and if we go to March Madness, the NCAA tournament, we would travel to that as well. Last year, our men’s and women’s basketball teams made it to the championship game of OVC tournament, and our women’s team actually won the conference. We got to go cheer at two NCAA games, which was amazing.”
“Aly’s got a lot of really neat things to look forward to,” Hickerson continued. “Tennessee Tech Cheer and Dance is under athletics, which is wonderful to be under. She’ll receive all the same perks and priorities as the football, basketball, and baseball players.”
“We also compete at UCA College Nationals, the Universal Cheer Association’s college nationals in Orlando, Florida, at the ESPN Wild World of Sports. We compete in the small coed game day division, and compete against teams like Butler, Hofstra, and Delaware, and this year we actually got fourth in the nation.”
It was an emotional day for Aly’s head DCHS Cheer Coach Amanda Fuller, as she is also Aly’s mother.
“I guess there’s mixed emotions in that I’m losing her from our team and she’s going off to college. It’s difficult to deal with, but also exciting. She’s going to further her education and further her skills as a cheerleader,” Amanda said.
“This is a goal that she has had for a very long time. Only two percent of people get to cheer at the college level, so that in itself is a great accomplishment.”
Aly said that she is super excited to be cheering for Tennessee Tech. “Cheerleading in college has always been something that I wanted to do, but I like the atmosphere at Tech. I’ve gone and watched then cheer at their games so many times, and their team is amazing. It’s like you are part of a family there, and I’m not going to be too far from home. It’s like perfect for me.”
Aly said she had to try out for the team and was honored to be picked. “They saw me in every aspect of cheer and what I could do. There were about 60 girls that tried out, so this is a really big honor. It’s definitely a higher level, but it will be fun to do.
Aly said she plans on studying to become a nurse during her time at college.
Photo: Pictured from left are parents Anthony and Amanda Fuller, Aly Fuller, and Tennessee Tech Head Cheer and Dance Coach Sydney Hickerson.
