For finance senior Nick McDonald, joining the cheer team was initially for a pastime but quickly turned into much more.

“Originally, one of my best friends, Lauren, was on the team, and she was like, ‘Hey, come try out,’” McDonald said. “Me and my roommate were supposed to try out, but he ended up not being able to. So, I was like, ‘You know what? I have a lot of free time, looking for something fun to do.'"

McDonald has been on the team for three years alongside kinesiology junior Rylee Ammons, who has been cheerleading since she was a kid.

“I've been cheering for my whole life,” Ammons said. “I was probably in second grade when I started cheer and I've always known I wanted to cheer in college. I mean, I've always looked up to the MSU cheer team.”

As student-athletes, the cheerleaders must balance cheer life with work and school. Practices are five days a week during football season and four days a week during basketball season.

“It can definitely be tough at times and it's a lot of discipline,” Ammons said. “It's very much just whenever I'm going through hard times, I realize how lucky and how blessed I am to be a part of this. So, it's kind of a thing where I do have to balance a lot, and there's a lot on my plate. But it's more just priorities and trying to stay motivated every single day and just continuing to work hard to achieve my goals in the classroom and on the team.”

Home games are not the only events where MSU cheerleaders perform. They travel for away games as well.

Selecting which athletes attend away games involves a complex point system, Ammons said. The points to be earned are performance-based, seniority-based and academic-based. The cheerleaders also work at different events on campus for points. Whoever has the most gets first pick on the travel schedule.

“I love traveling," Ammons said. "It's definitely one of my favorite parts about being on the team. It's the coolest opportunity, so you want to fit as much as you can into this trip that’s getting paid for by the school and (MSU) athletics. So, when we went to Maryland, we got it started right away. We were like, ‘Okay, what can we find here?' We always try to find a new restaurant or go sightseeing.”

The MSU Cheerleading team is a family, McDonald said, and he views his time on the team with great memories.

“My favorite part about being on the team is being on the sidelines for football and basketball. It's hard to beat that view,” McDonald said. “Cheer has given me so much. I’d love to help out as much as I can in the future.”

So, when attending an MSU football or basketball game, don't miss the MSU cheerleaders chanting “Go, Green, Go."