SAN ANTONIO – They’ve got spirit - yes, they do! And some impressive moves, too.
The Stomp and Shake cheerleading team at St. Philip’s College is an innovative spirit squad comprising both high school and college students.
Stomp and shake cheerleading dates back to the 1970s, originating in historically black colleges and universities on the East Coast.
The dynamic group at St. Philip’s has performed at Spurs games, FIESTA and on-campus events. They are led by coach Zenobia Tucker, who cheered herself in college and founded the team here in 2023.
“I felt like this was the perfect opportunity, like I said, to introduce our culture, HBCU style, to an actual HBCU in San Antonio, and just give them a different vibe, a different feel when it comes to seeing cheerleaders, because we do see traditional all over,” Tucker said. “Texas has a lot of cheerleaders, Texas has (a) lot of cheerleading teams, and cheer is pretty big in Texas, but what we don’t really have too much of is the historically black style of cheer. So, I really wanted to bring that to this region.”
Team members who maintain a GPA of at least 2.5 can earn grant money to help cover the costs of their education at the college.