Editor's note: In honor of the university's centennial year, The Daily News is counting down 100 days to the university's celebration Sept. 6 with 100 of Ball State's most famous traditions and figures. Check back each day to read about Cardinal history.
Performing at football and men’s and women’s basketball games means more than just seven hours of practice each week for Ball State’s Code Red Dancers (CRD).
Dancers must maintain a cumulative 2.0 GPA, dance “hip-hop, sassy jazz and pom” and “maintain outstanding physical fitness,” according to Ball State’s website.
Each summer, the team holds audition clinics to help prospective members learn certain dances and technique, ask questions and hear from NFL and NBA professional dancers before auditioning for the 15-member team.
The team makes appearances around campus and in the community, and first competed in the UCA & UDA College Cheerleading and Dance Team National Championship at Walt Disney World in 2017.
While CRD’s routines focus more on entertainment and are more condensed during athletic events, its competition routines combine entertainment and a higher difficulty level.
The team placed 14th in the 2017 competition, and in 2018 it won 12th overall, just short of a position in the finals.
Throughout both performances, Amy Wilkins was the team’s head coach. Wilkins was a Code Red member in 1998 and has been coaching the team for ten years.
Coaching alongside Wilkins is Donisha Carter. Carter became assistant coach for CRD in 2014 and is also a former team member.
After being a CRD, several members were selected to continue their dance careers, including Sarah Tinkle, Anne Cardimen and Ambria White, who were selected to join the Indianapolis Colts cheerleading team in 2018.
Read more centennial content here.
Contact Brooke Kemp with comments at bmkemp@bsu.edu or on Twitter @brookemkemp.
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